Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year
by Belphegor
Summary: At last... at long last... I present you with the 11th chapter, that is the second part of the 10th. James, Sirius, and Remus wander through the night, while Lily wonders and gets some answers to unspoken questions from Vega and Mundungus. Enjoy! :o
1. Overture

Author's note: Looking back into this seems like ages ago! :) I don't remember the moment I sat down and began to write the first words of this, but it was in French and it must have been some time at the beginning of the year 2001. I still don't know how I'm going to finish it (even if I do have an inkling how) but for the moment I'm revising it a bit and going through it one chapter at a time. The characters sometimes lack a third dimension, there's something wonky with the Gryffindor first-year girls' dormitory (see if you can spot it! :o) and sometimes it's painfully obvious that the author (yours truly) idealised some characters and demonised some others … But it was written from the heart, and it remains my first attempt at writing something longer and fuller than a few pages' worth. I hope there still are people reading it :o]

_Disclaimer: It's all JK Rowling's. And the Warner too, I suppose, but they didn't write it._

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**Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year**

**_Chapter 1: Overture_**

The letter arrived at about the end of breakfast. James was eating up his last piece of toast when the owl flew in through the window onto the table, startling his mother.

Elizabeth Potter reached out a slightly shaking hand to untie the roll of parchment elegantly tied up to the bird's foot. Its mission accomplished, the owl stuffed its head under its wing, waiting for some water in return for its services. Mrs Potter glanced at the envelope, then handed it to her son, all excited, "That's for you, Jimmy! It's from the school, I know it! Just read!"

James took the envelope hesitantly and opened it.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of al necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Rowena Walsh_

_Deputy Headmistress_

"Oh Jimmy, my dear, that's fantastic!" cried his mother as she hugged him. "I knew you'd make it anyway, I'm so excited, just wait until your dad hears it, too bad he left before breakfast –"

James was only half-listening. He felt oddly tense, and a small lump of excitement started to grow in his throat as he turned the idea over and over in his mind. _I'm going to Hogwarts. I'm going to Hogwarts …_

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The place which his whole family had been through before him. The place where all young British wizards and witches studied Magic Arts.

James Potter knew he was magical somehow since his third birthday, when, annoyed by a particularly sharp-clawed cat, he had found himself five feet away without anyone's help. So this letter was not really a surprise, but it sealed for good his arrival in the magical world. He wrote the answer just after breakfast and sent it away with the same owl, then he went outside to play with his dad's old broom, under a July sun that never seemed so bright.

James was eleven. He was already rather tall for his age; tall enough to keep his primary school mates from trying to pick a quarrel with him anyway. But this was not the only reason he was respected. He was a likeable sort, winning everyone's liking naturally by his good nature, his frank and unaffected manners and his sense of humour. Girls liked the dreamy way he looked with his untidy jet-black mop with tangles of hair – though rather short – going all over the place, and with his big hazel eyes shining behind glasses. His mates knew he was always ready for a good laugh, or ready to pull a joke on someone as long as it wasn't nasty or humiliating. In short, James got on with everybody.

And yet, while flying on his dad's old Stratus 60, James couldn't help but think how great it would have been if he'd had a brother, or a real friend whom he could share the huge Potter Mansion with, and everything it contained. He did have lots of mates at school who were just perfect to share a good laugh with, or to lend him a quill if he broke his; but he had not one true friend. None of his pals ever thought of inviting him for the afternoon, and he would face the teacher's wrath alone whenever he hit a snag in a joke. That's why he was so curious to see how it would turn out to be at Hogwarts. _Let things be different_, he hoped. _Just different_.

The following days dragged on so slowly that James asked his mother several times if time couldn't be sped up. Back home in the evening the day James got his letter, William Potter had spoken for a long time about the legacy of wizards, the family's honour – almost all the Potters had been sorted into the same house at Hogwarts, that is Gryffindor – and all pure-blooded families to see or to avoid. 'As for the others', as he had said, 'just wait and see'. He just didn't know, but James was half-listening again anyway. He wondered what the castle would look like from inside.

Then the moment came to buy the school stuff – the list arrived along with the letter: uniform (sets of black robes, a winter cloak, and a pointed hat, all in black), books and equipment, including of course a magic wand. And the best place to buy it all was hidden in the heart of London.

James had already been to Diagon Alley, and he knew the way. Once they got into London – the Muggle way – they were greeted by a driving tepid summer rain. Mrs Potter let her son lead the way to the Leaky Cauldron with a smile on her face. He spotted it easily – it was still stuck between a little bookshop and a butcher's.

"I should've brought a larger umbrella," Mrs Potter said, pushing the door of the dingy little pub. James shrugged and stepped in behind her shaking his soaked mop.

James liked the Leaky Cauldron, despite the darkness and the piles of dust lingering in the corners where spiders ruled … He always found it quite pleasant. His mother stepped across the pub, smiling along to the customers she knew. When the barman asked her whether she'd have her usual currant juice on the rocks, she gave a broad grin and pointed at James. He was eyeing with great interest a dwarf standing up on a chair, with a few cards in his hand, bawling to a wizard sitting at the same table, "You've cheated! Blimey, I did see you've cheated!"

"My big boy's starting Hogwarts in September," Mrs Potter proudly told the barman – James, not impressed at the 'big boy' bit, shook his head and went a little pink. "We're going to buy his equipment."

"Ah," said the barman, his smile revealing the hole left by his two upper incisors which were missing. "Good thing for him, it is, Mrs Potter. But – I think the Snape boy's starting school this year, too."

"Snape? They're quite close to He-Must-Not-Be-Named, aren't they? I'm suspicious of those people, you can never know …"

"So I heard. Anyway, I met the boy along with his parents just now; they darted past me without even a look."

"Rudest people, they are, indeed."

The wizard finally calmed down the dwarf by offering him his own tankard of Butterbeer; James turned back to his mother, who glanced at him and cried, "Merlin's beard, Jimmy, I almost forgot about you! Please excuse us, Nigel," she said to the still-smiling barman standing behind the counter – James liked him and his pirate smile – "but we have to go! See, Jimmy here can't keep still!"

"My name's _James_, Mum," James said in an exasperated tone. He was now eleven, about to get into Hogwarts, if only she could stop with that silly nickname …

They both stepped out into the little courtyard at the back of the pub. It was still raining, but James didn't want his mother to enchant her umbrella for him. He liked this soft and tepid rain, it was quite agreeable after early August burning heat – and besides, he felt quite stupid under the umbrella. However, as his glasses were so clouded by the rain he couldn't see three feet forward, he was relieved when Mrs Potter picked them from his nose, and tapping them with her wand muttering, "_Impervius_. Honestly, Jimmy …" James put his glasses on again; now they repelled water. He clearly saw his mother counting the bricks of the wall and tapped one with her wand. A hole opened, growing larger and larger, and James and his mother walked into Diagon Alley.

Despite the rain, they were lots of people in the alley, and James watched with a smile the familiar ballet of coloured robes. About all wizards and witches had cast a Rain Shield Charm or were holding a real Muggle umbrella, and the result was an interesting tableau indeed; you could also see the few Muggle parents coming with their wizarding children to get their school things. They were the only ones who bore astonished looks on their faces.

"Let's see that list," muttered Mrs Potter getting the parchment out of her purse. "Oh yes, the robes. Madam Malkin must've finished them now. Poor woman, such a fire is enough to ruin everyone's business … You'll fetch your uniforms while I'll get your rolls of parchment, quills and telescope. There," she added, handing James a small bag full of golden Galleons before he could say a single word, "there must be enough in it for your robes and books, and while you are at it, get your wand. Then we'll get you a cauldron, and all the stuff you need for your Potions classes. Oh dear, I know I forgot something …"

James opened his mouth but his mother cut him with a frown, "Can I trust you, James?"

"_Yes_, Mum," he finally uttered, relieved that she at least ceased treating him like a mummy's boy. "It's okay, I'll go to Madam Malkin's, then Mr Ollivander's, then to the bookshop; let's meet again at Florean Fortrescue's in three quarters of hours, all right?"

Mrs Potter's cheeks flushed pink as she kissed her son on the cheek and cried, "Oh Jimmy dear, I'm so proud of you …" James, feeling slightly embarrassed, watched her heading toward a shop with a shop window showing rolls of parchment of every size and quills of every kind. He sighed. Some things seem to change slowly. Then he turned about and walked to _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_.

The store looked quite normal; although, according to what James had heard, a fire had destroyed a lot of robes kept in the back of the shop few days ago. When Madam Malkin arrived, she took him to the back of the shop and had him sit on a tool a few feet away from another boy. He asked her about the shop politely, but the small witch just shook her head sadly. She asked him his name and disappeared behind a large curtain. James peeked around, and his eyes fell on the boy sitting next to him, who was glancing around too, with his nose in the air. James couldn't help but peer at him.

The boy must be his age; he was about the same height as him, tall and rather skinny. He wasn't wearing wizard robes, but was dressed the Muggle way, with a tee-shirt and a pair of worn-out-looking denim trousers and jacket, still wet with rain. His matted jet-black mop was almost as bad as James' was, but his wet locks fell lower on his neck, curling a little. An unreadable expression floated on his face, just like his warm sort of grin, something between sarcasm, calm irony and slight insolence. And when he turned questioning eyes to James, James almost started: he had never seen eyes of this colour. They were a very light, limpid blue, twinkling with mischief, laughter, and – at that moment – curiosity, "Hi," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Hi", James finally answered; then he brought his stool forward and asked, spurred by curiosity, "You're a Muggle, aren't you?"

"Er … yeah, well, sort of. You're a wizard, aren't you?"

That was immediately followed by an ironic grin, obviously coming from someone who never takes anything seriously, and especially not himself. James smiled back. "Er … yeah, sort of. Are your parents with you? They're all Muggles in your family?"

"Nope, my dad's a Muggle. I've come with my sis'. She's a witch, she's gone over there to buy some new books. She's been going to Hogwarts for four years now and she's a pain in the neck. What 'bout you?"

"My mum left me hanging about here. She's up there buying my quills, rolls of parchment, and the stuff that was on the list."

"So you're left behind, too, aren't you?"

"Yeah, you can say that …" The two boys started to laugh. Then James extended his hand to the boy, who shook it heartily, "I'm James Potter."

"Sirius Black. And don't laugh, I didn't chose."

James frowned slightly, "Why d'you say that? I like the name Sirius. I'd like to have an unusual name like this, James' so common ... At least, Sirius' cool."

"That's not what they kept saying at my old school," Sirius said, grinning again. "They said that – wait – oh yeah, that it was 'a freak's freaky name'. Mind you, it's not that I disliked being 'the freak', on the contrary! Plus I like this name. The Dog Star. That's actually nice."

"Have you ever actually cast a real spell?"

Sirius thought for a moment, then, "Yeah, five or six years ago, there was that big twit trying to scare the living daylights outta me and get my snack; he ended up on the ground with very long and very green hair. I still dunno how I did it," he ended with a wolfish kind of grin, "but it was worth while!"

The two boys laughed again; Madam Malkin came back, handling two bundles, "There, my dears. Have a good school year!"

Sirius looked rather ashamed as they got out of the shop, "What am I gonna look like in these? Oy, girls're gonna make fun of me …"

"They're used to seeing boys wearing robes, don't worry," said James, friendly clapping him on the shoulder. "Look, I _am_ a boy, right? Don't I look absolutely superb in these robes?"

"Er … D'you really want me to answer that?"

One glance was enough for James to see Sirius was joking.

"My sister told me to buy a magic wand," Sirius said. "Do you know where the shop is?"

"Yeah, Ollivander's, just down over there –"

They walked down the street wisecracking cheerfully, without taking notice of the rain that soaked them to the skin. Once they had reached the wand maker's, Sirius shook his drenched dark mop in a dog sort of way before stepping in behind James.

It was a tiny, silent place, and the two boys got the same impression; it was as if they were standing in a really huge library, not being able to speak without being heard miles away. There was a single chair standing in the middle of the room; James sat down after sharing a glance with Sirius, who shook his head. He preferred to stand up. During a few endless seconds, nothing happened, then the small doorbell let out a rusty chiming sound and a girl stumbled in.

At first, all the boys could see was a huge umbrella, and a wet skirt sticking against two plump little legs that were shaking slightly. Then the umbrella was shut, and the girl brushed her matted elbow-long auburn hair out of her face, and both Sirius' and James' faces broke into a grin. This dark-flame coloured hair had hidden till then two glittering big green eyes, framed by long eyelashes. However, the eyes looked uneasy as they peeked around, as if they were expecting to see a dragon turning up without a warning.

"Hey there," James said with a smile. The girl relaxed a bit, "Hi. It's the wand shop, isn't it?"

"Yep, it is," Sirius said. "First year at Hogwarts, too?"

The girl nodded. Sirius nudged James; James jumped out of the chair and pointed it to the newcomer, "Er, sorry, want to sit?"

She chuckled, "Thanks for being such a gentleman, but – keep it for yourself, you arrived first."

"What's your name?" James asked.

"Lily Evans. I guess I'm what you guys call 'Muggle-born'. All my family are Muggles."

"Really?" James was staring at her with great interest. Lily started to laugh again – her laugh was warm, almost musical.

"Why are you staring at me like this? Have I grown another head or something?"

"I've never seen one so closely," James answered earnestly …

This line broke the heavy silence that reigned over the room; Sirius and Lily burst out laughing, and James followed heartily.

"By the way, what're your names?"

"James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

"Like the star? Wow, cool."

"See, I told you so. Oi Lily, do you mind boys wearing robes?"

"Nope. It seems that everybody will wear these where we're going, anyway."

"Ah! See, Sirius?"

"Mmhh … yeah, well …"

They were about to laugh again, but a soft, as though muffled voice suddenly said, "Good afternoon to you three." They started a little; an old man was standing in the doorway, his wide, grey eyes shining out of the darkness like two moons.

"Hello," Lily ventured. James and Sirius fidgeted slightly; they looked obviously uneasy, especially Sirius. Mr Ollivander stared at the little gang for a few minutes, then Lily took a step back, saying, "They came before me."

Mr Ollivander shot her a quick glance. The silvery eyes almost didn't make her flinch. Then he turned to James, "Would you be the first, Mr Potter, please?"

"How come he knows your name?" Lily whispered as James stepped forward. He answered in the same tone, "I've already been here, he knows me."

Mr Ollivander took a tape measure out of his pocket, a long one with silvery markings, and started measuring James. Then the wand maker let the tap measure take its own measurements – Lily was a bit taken aback when it measured between James' nostrils – and fetched some boxes down from the shelves.

"Try this one, Mr Potter," he said as he took a wand out of its box. "Ash wood, eight and a half inches, with a dragon heartstring within." James took the stick gently but firmly and waved it; nothing happened. Mr Ollivander took it from his hand and gave him another one.

"Here: pinewood and dragon heartstring again, nine and a quarter inches. It was a different dragon, of course. You can't find two identical Ollivander wands, like you won't find two quite identical dragons. I may add that you won't find any wand better than Ollivander's in all England. Your father had dragon heartstring in his first wand too, I remember it well – baytree, nine inches, springy. There, try this one. Mahogany, phoenix feather, eleven inches. Excellent for Transfiguration."

James felt it the second he caught the wand – a rush of warmth radiating from the tips of his fingers, as little white blue sparks flew out from the stick. Mr Ollivander's eyes glittered as he slipped the wand in a paper bag.

"This wand chose you, Mr Potter, now take care of it," he said solemnly. "Seven Galleons."

James took the bag and handed seven golden coins out of the purse his mother had given him; then he got back to Lily and Sirius as the wand maker said, "Next, please". Lily and Sirius looked at each other; Sirius finally stepped forward.

"It seems to me I know you," said Mr Ollivander frowning. "You are Altaïr Black's second child, after Vega Black, aren't you?" James' eyes swiftly flicked toward Sirius, who nodded. He looked a bit pale. "I guessed right, then. You've got your mother's eyes. Her first wand was made of walnut, eleven inches long, quite bendy."

Sirius looked even more uneasy than the minute before as Mr Ollivander measured him too.

"How is your sister? She's still satisfied with her wand, isn't she? I remember every single customer who crossed this doorstep, and every wand I sold. That one contained a unicorn heartstring, quite rare, you know. Hazel wood, twelve inches, rather whippy. Wait a second, please."

He disappeared into the shelves again; Sirius just got enough time to mutter under his breath to James, "Does he always tell his customers all about the wands he sold, or is it just to impress ickle firsties?" James shrugged with a smile on his face; Mr Ollivander was back, holding a couple of boxes, "I think I have the perfect match for you here, Mr Black. Ebony, dragon heartstring, eleven and a half inches. Swishy, rather powerful. Try it."

Sirius took the wand for a second; then he jumped suddenly and dropped it with a yelp, "Oi! That thingy's hot!"

James began to chuckle as Mr Ollivander frowned, "If you happen to feel a slight warmth at your first touch on the wand, then it's because it chose you. Please take it back."

Sirius bent down, looking a bit sheepish, and picked up the ebony wand. This time, he tightened his grip around the wand, and didn't flinch when golden red sparks shot out from the tip. He even looked delighted.

"So that's my wand? _Mine?_ And I found it first time? Wow, that's neat …"

He searched his numerous pockets and managed to find seven Galleons and ten Sickles that he handed to Mr Ollivander. Then he returned to his new friends and shot a quizzical look at Lily, "Good luck, old girl!"

Lily shot him a murderous glance and walked with a firm step to Mr Ollivander. His staring, wide, pale eyes were smiling at her, "Ah, some new blood … You're Muggle-born, aren't you, child?"

"Yes," she answered, without blinking. "My name's Lily Evans."

"All right, Miss Evans. Let's see …"

And the ritual began for the third time: the tape measure, the wands ... After a dozen unsuccessful tries, Lily finally found her own wand: made of willow and a unicorn's mane hair, ten and a quarter inches, swishy. A nice wand for all Charm work, according to its maker. Lily was quite proud of it as she went out again. She picked up her huge umbrella and almost forced the boys to take refuge under it, "C'mon, James, you're taller than me, take that blasted umbrella or one of you will end up with one eye poked out. So, we've got pieces of magical creatures in our wands. A phoenix, a dragon and a unicorn! Quite cool, eh?"

"Quite. I've got a piece of a dragon's heart in mine ... Gee, I still don't believe it …"

Sirius took his wand out of his bag and was slightly disappointed to see no sparks anymore.

"That normal, do you think?"

"Of course," James said. "Otherwise just picture the panic, with these blue, red or violet sparks flying out each time you pick your wa – _ouch!!_"

James had bumped into someone; Sirius let out a yelp – he almost had his left eye poked out by the stranger's umbrella rib. Lily watched with a pout of disgust at the crooked nose, the dark, cold eyes flashing nastily, and the greasy black hair.

"Can't watch it, boy?" barked the newcomer. "Do you look where you're going sometimes?"

"Sorry," James muttered, shrugging. After all, they were watching it – well, kind of, with that giant umbrella. "We didn't see you."

"You should change your glasses! Looks like you need some better ones!"

Maybe it was the mean look in these dark eyes, or the wicked tone, but James really did not like the guy. He shot him daggers and made a menacing motion but Sirius spoke before he'd done something, "Tell me, slimeball, before we get on such sweet terms, have you got a wand here?"

"No, but –"

"No 'no but's. You haven't got a wand, we've got three. All brand new."

"And there are three of us anyway", James added, still scowling.

"So," Sirius ended, his voice dangerously calm, "if you haven't got anything more interesting to tell us, please, just scram."

If looks could kill, both Sirius and James would have fallen down dead. But Sirius grinned – this wolfish grin of his, unveiling his eye-teeth – and the bloke didn't insist. However you could hear him cursing his way down the street.

"Got yourself a new friend here, Sirius?" Lily said smiling, as they entered the bookshop – James was desperately trying to shut the umbrella. "You've gone a bit too far. That's not very wise, nor serious if you excuse the pathetic pun –"

"No prob, I'm used to that one. But you'll see soon that I'm not a wise or a serious person. Well, I do everything in order not to be."

"Perfect, I ended up with two nutcases. Looks like school's gonna be interesting."

"You bet! Wait a sec – oh, no … that's stupid …"

"What's the matter, James?"

"I came here to buy my books and my mum's got the list …"

"Oi, _that's_ stupid."

"Don't worry, James. I must buy my books too. I've got my list here."

"Gee, thanks, Lily. You saved my life here."

"Not at all!"

Lily took the list out of her purse and glanced at it. James looked at it too and frowned: that list was much longer than his. "Why are there so many books?"

"Well, those are the books of the list, and I was advised to read these ones."

"_Hogwarts, a History_, _An Encyclopaedia of Magical Creatures_, _The Dark Arts and How to Protect Yourself_ … _And A Study of Today's Magical Society_? What's the use of reading all that stuff?"

Lily blushed a little, "I don't know anything about your world! How you live, your society, your attitude towards Muggles … All I want is not to look like an idiot Muggle when I come to school."

"You know, Lily," Sirius cut in, "there're loads of Muggle-born kids who knew nothing before they come to Hogwarts! Look at me for instance. My Ma was a witch, but my Da's all Muggle, he brought us up my sister and me – I don't know an inch of what James here knows, but I don't make a fuss of it! Just relax!"

"Sirius's right," James said with a reassuring smile. "As for me, I come from an old wizarding family, I know how to fly a broom and stuff, but –"

"Fly a broom?" Sirius looked both pleased and scared. The blend gave an interesting result. "Wow, 'that true? We'll learn it as well? I thought Vega was just kidding!"

"Yeah, there're flying lessons … Well, I know some stuff like flying or holding a wand … but that's all I can do! I can't cast any important spell, or tell you one date in History of Magic, and I certainly won't turn into an animal … We all start at the same level."

Lily looked relieved, but determined. "OK, boys. But I do want to buy some of these books. They look interesting. Let's start with this list … By the way, Sirius, have you already bought your books?"

Sirius shifted uneasily, "No, my sister's giving me hers. From when she was in first year."

Lily didn't see what was wrong in getting one's sister's books, and after all Sirius' sister couldn't be worse than Petunia. Sometimes she was outright unbearable. Lily shrugged and began her quest for schoolbooks along with James. Sirius sauntered for a while in the store, with his hands in his pockets, looking at the books and the titles on the covers. They sold everything that could be read: schoolbooks of course, but also old, venerable-looking books of magic spells, brand new little pocket books, recipes books you could tell apart from the others ten feet away by the smell of cabbage, and there was even a cage in a dark corner, containing hirsute-looking books with four feet, staring at you with little orange-red eyes … everything.

There were lots of people in the shop, most of them students coming to get their books just like Lily and James were. Lily almost stumbled over a boy sitting on the ground, reading. He jumped up and apologised; Lily smiled and said it was all right, and she was glad to see a smile spreading on the boy's rather pale face. Then he leaned against the wall and started reading again.

When the three of them – or rather the two of them – finished buying their books, they left the shop; and it was still raining. Lily sighed as James unfolded the umbrella once again.

"I'm starting to get fed up, you know", she said. "I love rain, especially in summer, but enough is enough."

"You said it. Where're we gonna go now?"

"I heard there's a pet shop down there, I'd like to get a pet, since we're allowed to."

"Yes, the Magical Menagerie? Just over there. You'll see, it's a real mess inside. I wonder when they finally have a separated shop for the owls."

"Thanks, James. Let's go, then."

They walked down the street to the Magical Menagerie; they would have spotted it miles away by the smell – a strong smell of cat's litter, owl's cages, stagnant water and loads of other things they didn't even want to think of. But the inside was definitely worth it.

It wasn't very vast, and the walls were crowded with cages with animals of all sorts. There were venomous snails drooling their best, bellowing bullfrogs, big black rats fooling about in their cage, jet-black, yellow-eyed ravens … and even some odd, little hairy creatures Lily found lovely, who seemed to be trying to accomplish the feat of singing together the whole vast repertoire of the Beatles. As they started _Help!_, Lily asked some advice of the witch standing behind the counter.

"You can choose between a toad and a cat and an owl, now can't you?" the witch said very rapidly. "I tell you right now, an owl is far more useful than a cat or a toad. It can carry letters, it doesn't slobber, no risk of allergy and no need of a litter. If you want to have a pet, better make it useful."

A bit taken aback by the stream of words, Lily just nodded. She chose a small owl with red-brown feathers, who was sleeping peacefully, her head stuck under her wing. She was still sleeping when the witch took her cage off the shelf and handed it to a beaming Lily. She found the owl positively cute.

The rain was getting lighter when they got out this time. There still were lots of people in Diagon Alley, but Lily could see the boy she almost stumbled over at Flourish and Blotts'; he was still reading, this time leaning against an apothecary's shop window, with his light-brown hair falling in his eyes.

"What're you calling your owl?" asked James, still holding the umbrella, while Sirius tried to pat the owl through the cage bars. Lily thought for a second then finally said, "Nina, I think."

"_Ouch!_ Isn't it a bit odd for an owl, Nina?" Sirius asked, swifting his fingers out of the cage – Nina had woken up and bit him.

"I like that name, plus she's my owl, so that's Nina. That's all."

"OK, OK," chuckled James to calm things down, "that's Nina. Where do we go now?"

"Dunno," Sirius said with a shrug. "My sister told me to wait for her at Florean Fortrescue's but I don't know the place. She told me it'd take her a full hour, so –"

"I'm to meet my Mum at Florean's, too," James said as they stopped near a grassy bank. "That's the café up there, nice little place –"

"That was them! With that stupid umbrella!"

James, Lily and Sirius swivelled round. Five boys of their age stood in front of them. They only recognised the first – he was the crooked-nosed, greasy-haired kid James had bumped into. He looked more confident now that he had some rear to lean on. He planted himself in front of James and Sirius with a lofty look on his ugly face.

"What's it all about?" James asked innocently. The boy scowled, "It is about, as you said, you and your little friend here being disrespectful towards me just now. And I really do not like people being disrespectful towards me."

"And who are you to say so, Voldemort or something?" Sirius joked. To Lily's surprise, the five boys shuddered; as for James, he gave a little start and watched Sirius carefully. A lot of magic people were afraid of naming aloud the one who was already considered as the most powerful Dark Wizard of the century. But James somehow found ridiculous being afraid to say a name, even if he was just a little boy; he said it quite naturally, in spite – or rather because – of the reaction he almost always got. He enjoyed the gasp many people would give, just like the greasy-haired kid just did.

Then the boy pulled himself together and said, "My name is Severus Snape." He couldn't have said 'King of England' with more pride. James, Sirius and Lily exchanged sarcastic looks. The boy obviously had waited for a great impression, but none of the three knew that name. A bit nonplussed by how little reaction their friend had got, the four others standing behind him introduced themselves.

"Evan Rosier, Edward Wilkes, Thomas Avery."

"He's Michael Nott."

James shrugged, "James Potter."

"Sirius Black."

"Lily Evans."

Once Sirius and Lily had said their names, Snape gave a contemptuous snort.

"I've heard of the Potters, but Black and Evans – you're just Mudbloods, aren't you?"

This time, James went very red, and while Lily and Sirius stared in amazement, he threw himself at Snape, pinned him to the ground and clouted him. Wilkes hurled himself at James quickly; Sirius pitched into the fight, and as a result the two others got mixed in, too. Lily rapidly took away Nina's cage and the bags containing their purchases; then she did something nobody had really expected from her, as she was a girl: she grabbed Rosier by his hair and pulled him back sharply. No gentleman at all, Rosier hit her back, and soon no one could perceive anything. It was a real free-for-all, a very non-magic hand-to-hand fight. James kept punching Snape, Snape hit him as hard as he could, Sirius bit Avery and tripped Wilkes up, Wilkes tried to help his friend Rosier who was struggling with Lily still gripping his hair, as she kicked Nott away to keep him from helping the others …

Rain and mud half blinded them but they wouldn't let go, especially James. 'Mudblood' was the most insulting thing a wizard could call a Muggle-born. As if this was just a matter of 'dirty' or 'pure' blood. James hated that idea worse than anything. Sirius punched and struggled blindly, out of sheer self-defence instinct. He only had a vague idea of what the insult meant, but he hated the thought of someone spitting mean things at him or at someone he liked. And he felt he actually liked these two.

As for Lily, she was starting to get weaker. Rosier and Nott were both taller and stronger – in Nott's case, much heavier – and even if she could generally hold her own, she had to admit that two adversaries were maybe a bit too much to handle. She could sense Sirius next to her giving out a bit too, and she didn't know how James was doing. She bit, scratched, did her best, but in the end Nott knocked her over against the bank and Rosier stepped closer. His eyes flashed fiercely out of his black eye; he moved forward, with his hand raised, Lily closed her eyes and bit hard on her lip – then she heard a high-pitched yelp, and her eyes snapped open.

Rosier was on the ground struggling against someone who had literally leaped towards him, and who was now punching him blindly just like Lily was a few seconds before. When he saw the scene, Wilkes let go of Sirius and threw himself at the newcomer in order to help Rosier who was now in a tight corner.

The now counterbalanced parties could have kept on wrestling this way if the noise and the shouts hadn't caught the attention of their parents and Diagon Alley strollers, curious to watch kids fighting the Muggle way. They eventually pulled children apart – not easily – and then the two opponents stood on each side of an imaginary line, each one facing his own dressing-down …

"JAMES WILLIAM POTTER!! HAVE YOU NO SHAME, FIGHTING LIKE A FISHWIFE!!"

James positively shrank. His mother had never looked so angry before. As for Sirius, he was in deep conversation with a girl of about sixteen, with long, a bit tangled raven-black hair, and blue eyes darker than Sirius' – she was certainly his sister, Vega. Nobody scolded Lily, as she had come alone – she lived near by – but she was rather upset, too, and kept her head down.

"I thought you would know better!" growled a dark-eyed, hatchet-faced man down to a sheepish-looking Severus Snape. "Wrestling like a common Muggle, you, coming from a family that has had only pure-blooded wizards for fourteen generations!"

"But Mum," James tried to tell his mother, "this bloke called my friends Mudbloods!"

"So you're throwing yourself at him because of that? There's always some other means to sort things out! And stop fidgeting like this, you've got a nasty cut right on your cheek …"

Vega Black also tried and mend as much as she could her little brother's numerous cuts and bruises as she lectured him too – in a slightly different tone.

"Honestly, Si! Do you really think the thing was worth reacting this way? I mean this is ridiculous, starting such a fight because a snobbish little git called you something! He probably just wanted to provoke you, and of course you started straight off! Well, smart move, little brother!"

"Excuse me –"

Snape's father had tapped on Vega's shoulder; she turned about, her brows furrowed.

"It seems you just called my son a 'snobbish little git', didn't you?" Mr Snape said coldly. Vega shrugged as Mrs Potter turned to him.

"You'd better keep it quiet, you! After all, _your_ son did start this all! He shouldn't have called these children that horrible word!"

"Severus never provokes, Madam. The others must have done or said something first. Maybe _those _boys are the ones lying here."

"Sirius may have a lousy temper," exclaimed Vega scandalised, "but he is no liar!"

"You seem very naive, Miss," Mr Rosier said stepping forward, "it's obvious your Sirius is no angel either –"

"Watch it, you – !"

As he saw the conversation turning into an adults fight, James quietly stepped away from his mother toward Sirius and Lily, and to the one who brought them his help.

"Thanks, mate," Sirius said grinning. "We'd have had a tough moment without you, I guess."

"I dunno why you did that," echoed James, "but that was really nice of you."

Lily examined closely the rather pale but smiling face and the light-brown hair that fell in the eyes; these eyes were an indefinable shade, between blue and grey.

"I know you!" she said. "You were at Flourish and Blotts', and I saw you standing near the apothecary's, in front of the Magical Menagerie! Were you following us or something?"

"Not really." The boy's voice was soft and low, and his eyes were smiling. "I was following those ones actually. I saw you bumping into each other near the bookshop, and knowing Severus –"

"Do you know him?"

"We went to the same school for some time. He was always hanging about with his little gang; I knew they were somewhere round here, so I suspected he was up to something. There were five of them, only three of you, he didn't like you – that's a bit of a good recommendation – and I had a little score to settle with Rosier."

"Why?" James said, raising an eyebrow. The boy gave a placidly sarcastic smile, like a sort of mix between James' and Sirius' smiles, Lily thought.

"Well, he once sat upon my owl, so I stole his fluffy rat."

Then, as he saw the others' surprised and dubious expression, he shrugged, "We were at nursery school. But the bloke half suffocated my owl. Poor thing."

The three friends started to laugh, then Lily asked, "What's your name?"

"Remus Lupin. I know it's weird, but I didn't choose."

The three others introduced themselves.

"James Potter. My mum's over here, she's the one shouting at Snape's dad."

"Sirius Black, and this crazy black-haired girl who just slapped Rosier's dad's face – yeah, go, Vega, go! – well, she's my sister."

"Lily Evans, I live nearby, so I came alone. Who's with you?"

Remus opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut by a shout behind them: "Remus! I would've been surprised otherwise! What happened this time?"

The woman had ash-blond hair and dark velvet-blue eyes that flashed toward Remus, who was suddenly very interested in his shoelaces. James rescued him.

"It's our fault, Madam. Somebody called Lily and Sirius here Mudbloods, so we fought. Remus saw what had happened and gave us a good hand. We would have been really outnumbered without him."

"Well, if this was in order to defend a just cause –" Mrs Lupin said in a softer voice. "You are the Potter boy, James, aren't you? I know your mum a little, she's a lovely sort of person."

James stole a glance at his mother who was still shouting at the parents of Snape's gang, along with a furious Vega Black who looked as loud-mouthed as her brother. _Lovely_, he thought, _yes, sort __of. As long as you don't get her angry_.

"What about you two?"

"My name's Lily Evans."

"Sirius Black, Ma'am."

"Are you Muggle-born?"

"Yes," Lily said rather proudly, "I'm the only witch in my family."

"I'm half and half," Sirius said. "My Da's a Muggle, but my Ma was a witch."

* * *

There was a short pause. Remus wiped the blood dripping from his cut lower lip with his sleeve; Lily tried to comb her hair with her fingers, but soon stopped fighting this losing battle. Mrs Lupin took her wand and started checking over the four children one by one, mending Sirius' black eye, Remus' lip, James' cheek – his mother didn't have time to finish – and Lily's cheeks and forehead covered with bruises. _We're really in a sorry state_, Lily thought, watching the three boys. _Covered with bumps, bruises, cuts and _– ouch_! I don't believe it, this Rosier moron bit me …_

Her knuckles ached, her knee was still cut, her face was covered with mud and rain, her skirt was dirty and ripped – why then did she feel so cheerful, so happy? And she wasn't the only one to feel so apparently: she could see James grinning broadly as he chatted with Remus and Sirius. The blue-grey eyes were shining softly, but the clear-blue ones were literally blazing. They talked as though they had known each others for ages, and Lily felt this brawl had created a bond between the four of them. Like a common cause that had them gather together for quite a long time, she reckoned.

It was very reassuring to start a seven-year school career in a place so unknown to her, with these new friends.

Mrs Lupin left them to go and pull the adults apart with the help of some regular customers of Diagon Alley – they weren't far from brawling just like the children were. While they 'talked' with a great many gestures and shouts, the guilty parties – James, Sirius, Lily and Remus on one side, Severus Snape and his gang on the other side – watched tranquilly. The first four ones even started to bet. Then the discussion quietened down gradually, the voices lowered, and later on the opponents broke apart, still glaring at each other. James quickly waved goodbye to his new friends as he followed his mother who strode away, grumbling under her breath. Vega took Sirius away too.

Lily stayed with Remus and his mum for a while and finished up her purchases; Mrs Lupin insisted on helping her carrying her bags home. They got out of Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron, and Lily was home a few streets further. She warmly thanked Remus and his mother, rushed up the steps four at a time, then pushed the door open, still all excited.

* * *

_I don't know whether my beta readers are still writing, but whether they are or not I think of them as I post this. Johanna, Yolanda, I literally could never have done it without you – mustering the courage to translate, send and post this still unfinished monster. Thank you so very much._

_Belphegor :o]_


	2. Heading for Hogwarts

This part was dedicated to the memory of those who died on that fateful and horrible day of Tuesday, September, 11th, in New York City, Washington DC and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This part was dedicated to the memory of those who died on that fateful and horrible day of Tuesday, September, 11th, in New York City, Washington DC and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I also send my most sympathetic and caring thoughts to their families, friends and acquaintances, although I know perfectly well that words can't heal such a pain. Much of love to you all anyway,

~*~ Belphegor ~*~

****

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

__

Chapter 2: Heading for Hogwarts

The following days and weeks seemed hopelessly long. Lily packed up then unpacked, folded her robes, trained herself to hold her wand in order to keep herself busy. Above all she spent most of her time reading the books she'd bought in Diagon Alley. 

Her _Study of Today's Magical Society_ and _Hogwarts, a History_ were complicated and quite long books, but Lily was determined to finish them before the beginning of term; as for the _Encyclopaedia of Magical Creatures_, it was purely and simply fascinating. Far more rich and complete than her fifty-pages long _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ she had on her schoolbook list. In her _Encyclopaedia_, she could read pages and pages about the magical creatures, from animals such as hippogriffs, unicorns or dragons, to "closer-to-humans" creatures – centaurs, for instance – or even Dark Creatures such as vampires or werewolves. Fascinating.

So she spent her whole day in her room. When she eventually came down for dinner, she spoke endlessly about all she had just read, and her parents listened to her with genuine fascination. Her sister Petunia kept silent during their meals, and that was a radical change – usually she wouldn't let Lily get a word in.

Lily did not notice only this change in her older sister's behaviour. Though always so quick to criticise everything in everyone, Petunia now withdrew herself each time Lily came into sight. She never asked about Hogwarts, magic, wand, books, and everything related to the wizarding world. She spent most of her time outside with her school friends, who lived near by. Lily had never been quite close to her sister, but it didn't keep her from feeling sad at that state of things. She remembered the laughter they shared sometimes when Petunia was in a good mood – Lily was always in a good mood – when she would tell her little sister stories gratuitously, for pleasure of making her laugh. But since Lily was back from Diagon Alley, not one word from Petunia, not one smile, nothing.

August seemed to drag by. The night of August 31st, Lily had difficulty falling asleep. She stared at the ceiling above her with her eyes wide open in the dark, mentally reciting some spells she learnt in her _Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_. Her heart was pounding at the thought of being away from her family for ten months – she wouldn't come back for Christmas nor Easter break – and this was only her first year out of seven.

But a thought comforted her just before she fell asleep. She would not be alone – she would have friends, whatever she was about to get into, and she was even more glad of that first meeting …

* * *

"_Si!_ Si, now you get up!"

Vega Black shook firmly the moaning form squirming under the sheet.

"SIRIUS IAN BLACK!! Get up or I pull the blankets out!"

"Vega, you nutter," grumbled a muffled voice. "Don't you see what time it is? It isn't even daylight yet, I bet it's not even six –"

"Stop moaning! It's quarter past six, and I don't want to take the risk of being late. Now UP! I'm fixing breakfast."

Sirius Black popped a very dishevelled head from under the sheets. His black, wavy hair stood up in all directions and his clear blue eyes were still sleepy and puffy. Ordinarily, he would have thrown a pillow up to his sister and popped his head under the blanket again – but today, it was his very first day at Hogwarts that was at stake, so he made an effort and sat up, glaring daggers at the door Vega had just gone through. "Quarter past six … _Honestly_, Vega …"

Their father came into the kitchen as Sirius started his cup of tea. Frank Black obviously also found it very difficult to keep his eyes open, "Thank Goodness you were there, Vega," he muttered, smiling all the same, 'otherwise I feel I could have slept on till – at least seven o'clock."

Then, as Vega frowned slightly, "Don't worry, dear. I can promise you that you won't be late. London is hardly one and a half hours away by road. We'll just have to leave at half past eight and we'll be there early enough."

Sirius mumbled something which was muffled by the toast he was eating. Fortunately. Vega preferred not to know what he said.

How they all managed to pack into the small car with all the luggage and Lucy's – Vega's owl – cage, Sirius didn't have the faintest idea. The trip was quite animated, with Sirius bombarding Vega with questions about Hogwarts he hadn't asked yet, Vega grousing because her brother was really a deadly bore, and Lucy hooting. Frank Black had difficulty concentrating on the road.

When they finally reached King's Cross station, Sirius was getting sick. Car-travelling definitely didn't agree with him. After a one-minute recovery break, the three Blacks headed toward platforms nine and ten. Few Muggles eyed them oddly; well, with all the luggage and especially the cage in which Lucy, scared as usual by all those people, hooted as loud as she could, they didn't really go unnoticed.

* * *

It was Lucy's screeches that first reached Lily Evans's ears. They startled her out of the panic she had begun to feel since she really looked at her ticket: eleven o'clock, Hogwarts Express, Platform nine and three quarters. She had kissed her parents and sister goodbye, took the bus to the station, and she was now standing there, between platforms nine and ten.

Hearing an owl's hoot, she swung around, feeling hugely relieved; she was even more when she heard a slightly hoarse voice she recognised at once exclaiming, "Vega, can't you keep your owl quiet? Some of us here got eardrums they care about, and honestly, it sounds even worse than you having a shower with the warm water cut off!"

"Sirius!" Lily cried …

It was him indeed, along with his sister and a tall, clear-eyed, very dark-haired man who must be his father. Sirius turned to Lily and his face lit up, "Hey, look who's over there! Hi, Lil'. What's up?"

"Well, I'm stuck here and I don't have a clue how to get to that blasted platform nine and three quarters …"

"No problema, chica, 's a wizarding trick to hide it from the Muggles. It's dead easy, you'll see, plus it's quite funny."

"What's your name?" asked Vega kindly as she took a step closer. She didn't look as fierce as the other day back at Diagon Alley, and her blue eyes were sparkling.

"Lily Evans."

"There, Lily, give me your trunk, I'll put it on a trolley, it'll be more practical. See, the trick is to grab your trolley, run to the wall between platforms nine and ten and to not slow."

"But … what if I crash into the wall?" Lily said, not feeling sure at all.

"First, you won't crash," Sirius said, "and second, if you absolutely want to crash don't worry, I know mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. We learnt first-aid at school."

"Yuck! Don't take it personally, but I prefer to stay out cold than to let you kiss me."

"Go now,' said Vega, 'go before Sirius. Go on!"

Lily stepped forward hesitatingly, tightened her grip around the handle of her trolley and pushed it as hard as she could. The wall was getting closer – closer – even closer – she closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she was no longer in the station concourse but standing in front of a big red steam engine.

Her first thought was _I thought these ones didn't exist anymore_; then, feeling a bit lost, she glanced around.

Above her head, an iron sign said "Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock" and as she turned about briefly she saw an old iron archway indicating "Platform Nine and Three Quarters". Ahead of her, the platform was crowded with students climbing in and out of the train, dragging their luggage, their owl's cage, cat basket or rat box. The din was quite impressive, with many goodbyes, recommendations, some sobs, and several hoots, mews and other animal noises. She could barely hear a voice whispering in her ear, 'I know, that's what I felt first time I came here.'

Sirius had gone through the barrier too, and his dad and sister followed closely. Lily took her trunk from her trolley with a smile.

"Thanks for helping me," she said.

"Not at all, that's normal, we're used to come here now with ol'girl here starting her fifth year –"

"Si!"

"Just kidding, sis. Well, here we are."

"Aren't you a bit scared?"

"Scared? Nope, why should I? It's gonna be so much fun, we'll learn spells and curses to hex everybody – especially the Slytherins!"

"Especially _what?_ Oh yes, those from the Slytherin house. Why them in particular?"

Sirius winked, "I think you'll guess that well soon enough." Then his face lit up again as he cried out cheerfully, "Hey, Jamsie!" 

Lily turned around and saw James Potter hurrying to them dragging his trunk, closely followed by his mother.

"Hi, James!"

"'Lo, Lily, Sirius! 'Was looking for you!"

He looked a bit red and breathless, his glasses were crooked and he still looked as though he hadn't run a comb through his hair for a week. His jet-black hair looked even more untidy than last time Lily had saw him. But maybe that was because of the rush.

"You've been running, haven't you?"

"Yeah, the alarm rang a bit too late. My Mum's fanatical about punctuality."

"Reminds me of someone," Sirius muttered with a lopsided look to his sister who was chatting with her dad and Mrs Potter. James tried to regain his breath; when he managed to breathe in a normal way, he turned to Lily.

"How did you find the platform?" he asked.

"He showed me," she answered, pointing to Sirius. "Are we going now?"

"Wait a second, will you? You're the first girl I've met who wants to go to school so much!"

Lily gave a shrug and sat on her trunk to wait. James kissed his mum goodbye; she hugged him as if she was afraid of never seeing him again. She almost had tears in her eyes as she whispered, "I'm so proud, James … really, I'm very proud of you."

James felt an odd lump develop in his throat; it was the first time ever he left home for such a long time. He let his mum kiss him on his cheek although he didn't like it; then he took his trunk and got back to Lily. As for Sirius, he looked uneasy too, but when his dad hugged him he held him back. 

"The house will sound awfully quiet now," Frank Black whispered with a smile. 'Deadly quiet, even."

"I'll send you loads of letters that explode when you open them," Sirius said, his voice shaking slightly. "And spells to help you blending your colours when you paint. And if you read someday in one of my letters 'green roses're flying in the air' then you are to come and get me out of there, 'cause Vega will have managed to drive me nutter. Ok?"

"All right, son. Not too many pranks?"

"Not too many, cross my heart, Da."

Frank got up as Sirius grasped his trunk and yelled, "C'mon, Vega, stop chatting guys up, we haven't got all day!"

He must have hit the right place, because Vega looked furious when she came into sight again. Sirius shared a last glance with his dad, then followed James and Lily to the cars. 

All the first ones seemed crowded. Once they more or less made their way through the students and got on the train with all their luggage, they had to drag them to an empty compartment. It wasn't an easy thing. After passing a couple of cars, they were bathed in sweat. Lily eventually let down her trunk and put up her hair from her wet neck; at that moment, they heard a soft, low voice already familiar to them, "Come in this one, there's nobody."

James recognised the light-brown hair and the blue grey eyes.

"Is it a habit of yours, Remus, always showing up at the right time?" He said, relieved. Remus Lupin smiled and grasped the owls' – Lucy, Nina and Merlin, James's owl – cages. At last the five of them went through the compartment door, put their luggage up in the rack and collapsed on a seat, exhausted. There was a second of silence, then Vega got up.

"Do you mind keeping an eye on Lucy, Si? I'm going to see Angie and Dan." 

Without even waiting for her brother's reply, she was gone. James raised an eyebrow, "_Si?_"

Sirius gave an exasperated shrug, "I just hate it when she calls me that."

"I know the feeling," James said. "My Mum insists on calling me 'Jimmy'."

Lily giggled. 

"What?"

"Well, that's – Jimmy's cute, isn't it?"

"That's for little boys!"

"And what are you, sixty-four or something?"

"I'm eleven and I prefer James to Jimmy. I even prefer Jamsie. Right?"

"Cool down, don't get angry … Remus, please stop him from biting me."

"Oy Remus,' Sirius cut in, peering at him more closely, 'you look terrible."

Indeed, Remus had dark shadows under his eyes, and his face was paler than last time. He gave a placidly quizzical smile, "You would look terrible too if a cracked ghost had kept singing 'I am Henry the Eighth' through the night till five just for a lark."

The three others burst out laughing, then a whistle was heard.

"Hey, look, there're the parents!"

Four heads turned to the window as the train began to move, "Bye, Mum!"

"Sirius, is that your father, there?"

"Yeah, the one talking to your mum."

"Whoa, who's that bunch of ginger-heads?"

"They're the Weasleys, they're a lot of them in their family, according to what Mum said. I'll send you loads of owls, Mum!"

"Bye!"

Gradually, the platform slipped away with the rest of the landscape, as the train sped away. James felt the lump was back in his throat; it almost choked him to see his mother getting smaller and smaller, then vanishing into the horizon at the same time as King's Cross station. Sirius had an odd sort of expression on his usually cheerful face, and Remus wasn't smiling anymore. 

There was a pause, then Lily clapped her hands, "Here we are! Heading for the adventure?"

She blushed and bowed her head a little, as three sets of eyebrows were raised. "Well, I had to say something. This silence was getting on my nerves."

"I agree with you, Lily," said Remus, settling down on his seat. "Since this trip will last something like ten hours, if we start with silence, then what it is going to be later – so then, somebody got a subject?"

"Oh, yes," said Lily, turning to James. "I've just thought about it now: why did you fly off the handle when that moron called us I don't know what?"

"He called you Mudbloods," James answered in a hardened voice. Remus started and frowned, "So that was it? Well, I don't regret my cut lip. The slimy little git."

"But what does that mean?" Sirius asked.

"It's the most insulting thing someone can call a Muggle-born witch or wizard. As if it was better to descent from an old wizarding family."

"Severus Snape is a 'pure-blood'," Remus added contemptuously. "And just like some other wizards – unfortunately – he's convinced he's worth much more than others because of that. For people like him, there are 'Pure-blood', 'Half-caste', 'Mudbloods' and the Muggles at the bottom of it. The majority of wizards and witches knows better, fortunately."

"Voldemort doesn't know better," Sirius said, his voice as sharp as ice. To his surprise, Remus didn't flinch. His eyes hardened at the very most. 

"I've read in the _Daily Prophet_ that Death Eaters struck again," James said. "They tortured and killed at least seven persons around Cornwall. Monstrous."

"Death Eaters?" As Lily looked surprised, Remus explained, "That's what Voldemort's most active supporters call themselves. I prefer not to know why."

"Yeah, me neither."

Their conversation rolled on as the train raced along; at one moment, a witch pushing a trolley filled with sweets slid the compartment door open. The four faces lit up suddenly – they were beginning to feel starved. 

'Hungry, dears?' asked the witch with a kind smile. James, Remus, Sirius and Lily filled their pockets with Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Cheesy Chestnuts, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties … Lily didn't know anything of these sweets – of course, she didn't find any books about wizarding sweets! – so she took a few of each ones, with a marked preference for Chocolate Frogs, because she loved chocolate. As she sat back down, she glanced at what the others had bought: James had a lot of Chocolate Frogs too, Sirius has preferred Cauldron Cakes, and Remus was already chewing at one of his Blowing Gums. He eyed Lily's Every-Flavour Beans suspiciously. 

"Be careful with these ones, Lily," he said. "You can find absolutely everything inside – sprouts, orange, spinach, chocolate, goblin blood, mint – even mint-flavoured goblin blood … Last time I tried, I got goat-cheese."

Lily cast a lopsided glance to her Beans, then took three of them she handed to her friends, "Help yourselves."

Remus, James and Sirius took one Bean each, but didn't eat it. 

"You take one too."

"Ok."

Lily picked up a vaguely orange-coloured Bean as she gave the others a challenging look.

"We eat them all together. We'll see who gets what."

"At the count of three."

"Deal."

The four friends held his or her Bean in his or her hand, each one don't leaving the others' eyes; James began to count in a low voice, "One – two –"

"Stop!"

Everybody turned to Sirius. He raised his eyebrows, "You said 'at the count of three', right? But does that mean 'one, two, three and go' or 'one, two and we go at three'?"

"That means 'one, two – three!'"

"But do we eat at 'three' or after 'three'?"

"We eat at – oy, enough of it. One, two – three!"

The four of them took a mouthful of their Beans. A silence followed, then Remus and James changed colour. Literally. They opened the window at once and spat out what they had bit; then they sat down again and looked almost enviously at Sirius and Lily who were chewing calmly.

"So then?" Lily said when she had swallowed the rest of her Bean. "What did you get to end up in this state?"

"Tripe," grumbled James.

"Dragon liver," mumbled Remus. "What 'bout you?"

"Chocolate and pear," said Sirius grinning.

"Orange."

"Orange? You lucky girl …" James pouted.

"The beginner's luck!"

They looked at each others, then burst out laughing. 

"We can do that little nonsense again some time," said Lily, still shaking with laughter. "Let's not end this all with a defeat. For you, I mean, of course!"

* * *

All the afternoon, they talked, laughed – and talked again; Vega popped her head from time to time to keep an eye on her brother, stayed a while then went back to her friends.

Around the end of the afternoon, as they were telling each other the weirdest things that had happened to them, the compartment door slid open and three boys stepped in.

"Hello," said the first coldly. "First-years?"

"Yeah," said James. "Are you too?"

"Of course not, I'm a second-year!" the other said with a disdainful shrug. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Well –"

James and Sirius were actually both as tall as him, even if they were one year younger. The boy was almost as pale as Remus, with white-blond hair and cold grey eyes. He looked scornful and as cold as ice, while the two boys standing on each side of him like bodyguards looked positively fierce.

"What's your name?" asked Remus politely.

"Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, and they're Crabbe and Goyle." 

"And no first names?" Sirius whispered to James. James had frowned at the same time as Remus – _they_ had heard of the Malfoys. 

"What're you doing here?" said James, and Lily noticed his voice had hardened again. "Just visiting?"

"You're a Potter, aren't you? Easiest thing to guess. My father says they're all dark-haired, short-sighted and much too insolent to live for long."

"My dad's almost red-haired and he doesn't wear glasses since he's twenty, Malfoy, do find something else."

"Why being just a name's so important for you?" Lily cut in with a shrug. "He's not 'a Potter', he's James. I am Lily Evans, and here're Remus Lupin and Sirius Black."

And she insisted on the first names. Malfoy gave a sneer, "You are obviously Muggle-born, girl. If you were really a witch, you'd know the pride of having a long line of wizards behind a name. My family is powerful, and that's because they're all wizards and witches. No Muggle ever tainted our blood," he added arrogantly. "That's not everyone's case, unfortunately."

Sirius had turned very red, and James and Remus were seething. 

"Out,' James said in barely a whisper. 'Out, or we throw you out of here through the window."

Malfoy snorted, "And what're you going to do? Hit me? Shoot sparks out of your wands? I'd really like to see that …"

He nodded towards Crabbe and Goyle who stepped into the compartment.

"What're you doing now?" Lily barked.

"As we ate up all our Chocolate Frogs and we're still hungry, why don't you share yours with us? Looks like you've still got plenty of these."

In one swift movement, Remus, James and Sirius had seized their wands, and Lily had done so in no time; she was surprised to feel a little rush of warmth as she saw little sparks of different colours shooting from the tips of the four wands.

"Try, and you'll regret it," James hissed. "We may not be specialists, but I know how to cast some hexes."

"Me too,' said Remus in a low voice. 'And I know some quite good ones."

"Last time someone asked for it, he ended up with his pants on fire," Sirius added with a fierce grin. "And that time, there was some water near by to put out the fire."

As for Lily, she held her wand tight, and stared right at Malfoy, her eyes blazing. He didn't say anything – then he stepped back into the corridor and made a sign to his two bodyguards to come with him.

"Pity for you two," he said to James and Remus, "hanging around with a Mudblood and a Half-caste. I thought two true wizards like you would know better."

"Go to hell, Malfoy," said Remus in a cold voice. "We don't have the same idea of what is a 'true wizard'."

"Now _out!_ And take your two guard dogs with you."

Just after the three boys left, Sirius turned to Lily.

"I told you back at the station I'd hex especially the Slytherins, remember? Well, those three are in Slytherin. And I'm ready to bet a Galleon that our little friends from Diagon Alley will end up in Slytherin, too. The whole bunch of them."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Everyone okay in here?" Vega had just opened the door of the compartment. "I think Malfoy and his sidekicks went around there, they're going up the train looking for some first-years to terrorise and steal sweets from. Did he come?"

"Yeah, he's been here. Not for a long time though. We put him off, I guess."

"Good. He's a git. He loves scaring smaller ones than him. Would deserve a good kick in his –"

"Calm down, Vega! There're some sensitive souls over here."

"Very funny, Sirius," Vega said ironically.

"It's nice worrying about us, thanks," Sirius replied, "but we're big enough to defend ourselves."

"Ok, I'm going back to my pals. See you later!"

"Bye, Vega!"

A few hours later, the compartment door opened again, but this time it was neither Vega nor Malfoy, but a small, chubby-faced boy who was already wearing his Hogwarts uniform. He stumbled into the compartment and almost fell over as he squeaked breathlessly, "He's behind me! Help me, he's behind me!"

James helped him up and had him sit on a seat, "Oy, calm down! Who's behind you?"

"A greasy-haired guy, I stepped on his feet without meaning to when I came back from toilets, he said he didn't like little fatties and he wants to cut my ears and then my tongue and then something else and it's not even true that I'm fat and –"

"Whoa, cool down," Sirius said. "Nobody will cut anybody's ears or tongue. Now what did you say he wanted to cut you next?"

"Please, Sirius … what's your name?"

"P–P–Peter … Peter P–Pettigrew …"

"Breathe, Peter. Nobody's going to hurt you. Let us do now, don't say anything more."

Snape had just opened the door furiously, "You again? What are you, R.S.P.C.A or something? Give me the little rat!"

"Ooh, ickle Seviekins lost his pet?" Sirius said, grinning broadly. "Sorry, pal, I think you need a shampoo instead. Go wash your hair."

"Peter's no rat, Severus," said Remus, whose dreamy blue grey eyes had suddenly turned into a menacing icy blue. "Aren't you ashamed, scaring him like this? I could understand such a stupid attitude coming from a seven-year-old kid, but not from a eleven-year-old young wizard about to get into Hogwarts!"

"Who rang your bell, Lupin?"

"Be quiet, will you? Peter didn't mean stepping on your feet, did he?" James cut in. "Now that's enough, get out of here before we throw you out!"

Lily cracked her fingers; the noise of crackling bones made Snape shudder. He beat a retreat with a murderous glance at the five of them.

"Settle down, Peter," Lily said kindly. "Don't worry 'bout that moron. We protect you."

"Thanks," muttered Peter, still a bit breathless. He looked more calm; however he gave a start when the door opened once again. This time, a girl with dark hair and braces popped in. She was followed by two boys, one with sandy-coloured hair and freckles, the other with red-brown hair and blue eyes.

"Why is it so noisy in there? Do you spend all your time fighting?"

"That's nothing," Lily answered. "Snape wanted to cut Peter's ears and nose –"

"And tongue!"

"– and tongue – thanks, Sirius – so he ran and took refuge in this compartment."

"Ah, good, I thought it was just for fun."

Peter let out a grunt.

"My name's Lisa Dodger," said the dark-haired girl. "Who're you?"

The five of them introduced themselves.

"I'm Fergus Finnigan," said the sandy-haired boy then. 

"Martin Riley," said the brown-haired, blue-eyed boy. "He's my best friend, and him, Lisa, Tim and me we come from the same school."

"Tim?"

"Tim Thomas," said a voice behind them. "What was all this noise about? I was sleeping."

The owner of the voice had sleepy green eyes and brown hair.

"You were snoring, even, Tim," said Lisa Dodger turning to him. "You were snoring so loudly I couldn't even understand what I was reading."

Before Tim Thomas could protest, Lisa turned to Sirius, Lily, James, and Remus who weren't wearing their uniforms yet, "You'd better change, you know. We'll be at Hogwarts soon."

Lily paled a little, "Already?"

"Well, yes, already," Lisa Dodger said, shrugging matter-of-factly – but Lily could see she was a bit pale herself, too. "We can't stay all the year in this train, can we?"

Lily shrugged too, then took her robes out of her bag and went to change in Lisa's compartment. When she was back, Fergus, Tim and Martin had left, and James, Remus and Sirius had put on their uniforms. Peter's was way too large for him – it hung loosely about him – and Remus's robes did look old. The initial black was starting to lighten at some points like wash-out clothes, and his cloak was patched up in several places. 

"I take my robes after my cousin," Remus said when he caught Lily's glance. "They aren't quite new."

He gave a fatalist shrug and a kind smile to Lily, who was afraid she'd been rude. Sirius had caught up one of his bags in the rack and was now tapping it nervously. James turned to him, "What's that?"

"My guitar," Sirius answered. James's eyes opened wide, "Your _what?_"

"Don't you know what it is?"

"It's a Muggle thing, isn't it?"

"Yes," Lily said, "it's a musical instrument. Do you really know how to play, Sirius?"

"Yep, otherwise I wouldn't have brought it. But if you want a sample, wait a little, because seems we're almost arrived."

"Do you think we're allowed to bring a guitar?"

"I hope so …"

A few minutes passed, then they heard a voice, "We'll be reaching Hogsmeade station in a few minutes' time. First-years, please leave your luggage on the train, it'll be taken to the school separately."

"Why do we leave the luggage here?" Lily asked. "Why don't we take it? Sirius, did your sister tell you something about that?"

"Relax, Lil', Vega's not infallible. Plus she loves scaring me – so I don't know anything of what's going to happen now."

The train slowed down, then stopped. They heard a great din – it was all the students squashing up in the corridors. They got out, trying not to get parted by the crowd. Sirius had a last concerned glance at his guitar as he got out too.

Outside, the night had fallen, and Lily didn't regret having put on her cloak. There was a cold breeze, and some of the students around her were shivering slightly. Then a booming voice said out of the darkness, "Firs'-years, over here, follow me! Over here!"

The person who had said these words wouldn't have been easy to miss. With his black, wild, tangled beard and hair and especially his gigantic frame – James, amazed, thought he was about ten feet tall – he did not go unnoticed. Lily wondered whether she'd have to be afraid, but when she saw the little black eyes shining out of his face almost hidden by the mane of hair and the beard, she felt reassured somehow. The five friends followed the giant along with the crowd of first-years, among which they could recognise Lisa Dodger, Tim Thomas, Fergus Finnigan, Martin Riley and unfortunately Severus Snape and his sidekicks – Avery, Nott, Rosier, Wilkes. They glared at them. Sirius and Lily pulled their most horrible faces at them and James took his wand out of his belt threateningly.

They more or less managed to make their way behind the giant – the path they were walking down was steep and shadowed and rather slippery. 

"I think that's the Forbidden Forest," whispered Remus in Lily's ear when she walked past him with her nose in the air, watching warily the huge, dark trees trunks. "They say it's full of weird things. There were even vampires there, at one time."

"Vampires?"

Lily couldn't tell, by the sound of Sirius's voice, whether he was delighted or afraid. Maybe both, who knows. He looked as though he wanted to add a comment of his own invention, but an "Oooooh!" stopped him. 

It was still as dark, but they could see a big black lake. The reflection of the waning moon glittered on the surface, often hidden by the clouds. And above all, up behind the lake, almost in the sky, little lights glimmered at the top of a mountain; at one point, the clouds vanished completely, and James's eyes opened wide as he saw the great, massive shape spiked with pointed towers.

"Here's the castle,' the giant said. 'Quite impressive, eh?"

_So that's it_, James thought. _That's Hogwarts. Impressive, yes, you can say that._

"Four to a boat, no more!"

James hadn't even seen yet the little boats moored along the shore. All the students had gathered by the edge and were getting on the boats; before he could ask anything, James was aboard along with Sirius, Remus, and to their great disgust, Severus Snape. The three friends glanced regretfully at Lily and little Peter Pettigrew, the boy from the train, who got along with Fergus and Martin.

"Everyone settled down?" the giant asked. Sirius muttered something nobody could hear. "Forward! And don' make too much noise, don't wanna wake up the giant squid."

"A giant squid?" This time, Sirius was quite delighted. "I love this place!" he exclaimed as he bent down to the water surface to see. James slightly pushed him aside, "Wait, let me see … I've never seen a giant squid before …"

"Me neither, don't push me!"

All happened very quickly. Remus saw a strange light flash in Snape's eyes; before he could warn his two friends, Snape suddenly leaped forward and pushed James. James's glasses fell first, and James toppled over the edge of the boat trying to catch them. Sirius drew himself up to his full height – the boat pitched dangerously – and hurried on to his friend's rescue, bumping past Snape without a look. He managed to grab firmly James's robes, but James's weight dragged him down and he fell over too.

Remus yelled something to the only adult – the bearded giant – to warn him, then leaned over to look at the dark surface of the lake, mad with worry, while Snape winked to his friends in a boat near by. Lily searched the water too, without any result – the ripple caused by the two boys' fall were calming gradually, and the water seemed pitch-black. She thought she saw something suddenly – she watched closely: a thin yellow light had been lit somewhere deep in the water, and was coming back up. A few seconds later, James popped a very furious-looking head out of the water, "If I catch this guy …"

Remus stretched out his hand with a sigh of relief and helped him back up in the boat. Snape kept himself as far as possible from James, whose dark eyes were flashing. He shook his drenched mop as the giant quickly came near by, "Yeh all right? Where's the other boy?"

James and Remus looked at each other in a panic: Sirius had not got back up. James turned livid and searched the lake yelling "Sirius!" Remus turned to Snape, his eyes blazing. Snape crept back moaning, "Don't look at me like that! It was only a joke – I didn't know he couldn't swim!"

Remus looked even more furious. Severus shrank back even more, his face white with fear. Suddenly a noise could be heard _under _the water as swirls appeared; something big was thrown off the water and landed into the back of James, Remus and Severus' boat. A minute later, Sirius brushed his soaked locks from his rather pale but smiling face. 

"Oy, you know what? There's really a giant squid down there!"

James let out a heavy sigh of relief, and a little colour was back on Remus's cheeks. Sirius turned to Snape, slumped down next to him in the back of the boat, "Sorry to disappoint you, slimeball, but it takes more than that to kill me."

Then as he saw his friends' shaken expressions, "You weren't scared for me, were you? Don't worry, I'm indestructible."

James gave a chuckle, as the giant asked worriedly, "Yeh're all right, boy? Wha' happened?"

"I leant forward to see and my glasses fell down, I toppled over when I bent to catch them, and Sirius fell over when he bent to catch _me_," James said quickly, without paying attention to Sirius's cry of protestation and Remus's scandalised look. Then he turned to Snape and whispered fiercely, "This means war, boy."

The giant didn't hear that; he frowned suspiciously.

"Right, fine, but I don't want ter see one of yeh move 'til we've arrived, understood?" Then he said, on a less gruff voice, "Not too cold?"

James shook his head, shaking very slightly, and Sirius grinned broadly despite his bluish lips. 

"So forward!"

The boats moved on again. Snape shrank in the back of the boat.

"What was that odd little light down there?" Remus asked James.

"Well, I lost my glasses, so I lit my wand to find them. You know, that's easy, you just have to say _Lumos_."

"But how did you articulate the words? You were under water –" asked Remus, puzzled. 

"I just thought hard about the formula, my wand, and the result I wanted to get, and it worked – doesn't it work like this usually?"

Remus didn't have time to answer. The boats came alongside. Ahead of them, a path opened right into the mountain. They followed the dancing little light of the lantern the giant handed and arrived on a vast lawn; the castle could be seen ahead of them. The intimidated students didn't dare to talk much, and you could hear only the "_splash, splash_" made by James's and Sirius's drenched clothes.

Once they all reached a gigantic oak door at the top of the front step, the giant raised his hand and knocked three times at the door. It opened at once.

"They're here, Professor Walsh," the giant said to someone they couldn't see. Lily, Remus, James and Sirius twisted their necks to have a better look at the person hidden by the giant's huge frame.

"Thank you, Hagrid,' said a rather grating voice, 'that'll be all."

Lily sensed Peter Pettigrew shiver next to her. The witch Hagrid had hidden from them till then was small – she was barely a head taller than Sirius and James – and wiry, with short reddish hair, a pointed face and lean hands. She stared at the students with little piercing eyes.

"In, follow me."

* * * * * *

Thanks to Johanna, and of course, Yolanda, for her thorough beta-reading and kind words – you're wonderful! J 

Love,

~*~ Belphegor ~*~


	3. The Sorting Ceremony

Author's note: I know it's said in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that Lord Voldemort has been around for eleven years only before his downfall, but in this story I made him appear before, because I thought it'd be better … Well, I needed a dar

Author's note: I know it's said in _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ that Lord Voldemort has been around for eleven years only before his downfall, but in this story I made him appear before, because I thought it'd be better … Well, I needed a dark shadow over it all. Sorry about that. I read somewhere that McGonagall's about 70 in Harry's time, so she can't be that young in the Marauders', but I felt like it … being a beginner in teaching is kind of scary, I wondered how she'd handle it. And third, Arnold Weasley is Mr Weasley's young brother.

I hope you'll enjoy this anyway J 

~*~ Belphegor ~*~

****

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

__

Chapter 3: The Sorting Ceremony

When she first walked into the Entrance Hall, Lily almost got dizzy. The ceiling was so high that Sirius and some others had to twist their neck to try and have a better look. Only James didn't look too surprised – he had already seen halls of that height before. Peter let out a little squeak when a cold wind blew _through_ him, as several strangled cries broke from the group. Lily, gaping, watched the two ghosts who had just crossed the wall in front of them. Sirius looked delighted.

Professor Walsh stopped in a room so small that the students had to stand rather close together to all fit in – which didn't please some at all.

"Get your paws off me," Lily hissed to a too close-standing Severus Snape.

"Welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," said Professor Walsh in a cool voice contrasting with the welcoming phrase. "Before you join the other students of the school for the start-of-term feast, you are going to be sorted into one of the four houses of Hogwarts, that is Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. This house will host you for a seven-years period. It will be your home, your family. 

"Each of you will be to keep the honour of his or her house as if his or her own family's." At that moment she looked Sirius, who was still grinning, straight in the eye. Remus was gradually turning pale, while Peter was looking scared and James was just looking curious. "Each time you get good marks and achieve good things, you'll earn your house new points. If, on the contrary, you break the school rules, your house will loose points because of you. The house with the most points wins the House Cup, and this is the greatest honour a house, whichever it is, can get. The Sorting Ceremony is about to take place in a short time, I'll fetch you when everything is ready. I strongly advise you to smarten yourselves a bit before I return."

As she talked, Professor Walsh spoke sharply and coldly. At the end, she laid her eyes on James's and Sirius's soaked clothes and Snape's greasy hair – he didn't even seem to be aware of it. However, she didn't seem to notice Remus's patched cloak, which Lily thought was tactful. 

James was beginning to feel tense. Lily was getting more and more nervous. Remus was getting paler and paler. Sirius looked quite calm; he was chatting with one of the two ghosts who had followed the students into the room.

"So then, young fellows," asked the other ghost – a tall lady with a vaguely sad-looking face – to the new students, "are you ready? Not too scared, are you?"

"Now, dearest friend," said the spectre who was chatting with Sirius, "of course they are afraid! Don't you remember your Sorting? It's quite normal."

"Of course, Sir Nicholas," the Grey Lady sighed wearily. "How could I forget such an important thing?"

"Don't you worry too much," the spectre said kindly to the students – he was wearing breeches and a big ruff around his neck. "It goes very quickly, you'll see. I hope you'll be sorted into Gryffindor. To me you look like a good batch."

"Oy there," said a third voice, belonging to a little fat monk who had just crossed the wall, too. "Haven't you seen the Bloody Baron around there? Peeves's fooling around in the trophy room and Adams is sitting at the banquet. Oh, hullo there!"

Lily, emboldened by the ghost's friendly voice waved a little with a shy smile. Peter looked as though he was about to faint.

"Good luck with the Sorting, youngsters!" said the Fat Friar cheerfully.

"The Bloody Baron just came to the Great Hall for the start-of-term feast," said a sharp voice. Professor Walsh was back. "Let's go, now."

Sirius waved goodbye to the ruff-wearing ghost; he replied jovially, "See you later, my young friend!"

"You know what?" Sirius whispered then to James. "If I'd had a camera, I could've won five pounds. I'd bet a pal ghosts did exist."

"Five _what?_"

"_Quiet!_"

Sirius sneaked between James and Remus without adding a word. Better not to annoy Professor Walsh. The students followed her back into the Entrance Hall, then they crossed a pair of double doors – and held their breath.

The Great Hall wasn't as high as the Entrance Hall was, but it was beautiful. All Hogwarts students were sitting at four long tables, staring at the newcomers. At the end of the room, another table was set for the teachers. The golden plates and goblets were sparkling, shining almost as much as the candles hanging in mid-air. The bright, silvery spots of the ghosts made a rather sharp contrast with the yellow twilight made by the candles. And the clouds were gathering above their heads.

"Maybe you'll know, Remus," Sirius whispered. "What's that thing?"

It was Lily who answered instead of Remus, who was very pale and too choked to talk, "It's an enchanted ceiling, it was bewitched to look like the sky."

"Ah. Oy, Remus? Why do you look so green?"

Sirius got no answer. He tried to ignore his heart's own throbbing and looked at the Great Hall again. He even gave a broad, defiant grin as he recognised his sister sitting at the same table as the friendly ruff-wearing ghost. _I'm _not_ showing her I'm scared._

James's heart was yo-yoing in his chest. Up, down – up, down. He was almost sick. He suddenly felt someone grip his hand – it was Lily. She looked desperate as she whispered very quickly, "What – what if they don't want me? I'm not even a true witch, after all – if I'm not magic enough – or too much – I don't know … do you think they'll – ?"

James turned to her, hiding his own fear behind a kind smile, "If you were not a true witch, you wouldn't be standing here. Look, they even wanted Malfoy. And he's a git, isn't he?"

He pointed to Lucius Malfoy, who was sitting at a table on the left. Crabbe and Goyle were sitting at his sides. Lily relaxed a little, but didn't let go of his hand. James hardly even noticed.

Professor Walsh was gone, then back, holding a little four-legged stool and a hat – the oldest, dirtiest, and most patched hat James had ever seen.

"I'm _not_ putting that thing on my head," muttered a girl with sleek brown hair and black eyes who was standing behind Lily. For a few minutes, there was total silence. Everybody – the professors and the students as well – stared at the hat. Then it stirred slightly, a mouth-like rip opened and the hat began to sing:

_Young wizards and witches, girls 'n boys_

Here to learn Magical Arts 

Now here's a step you can't avoid

If you want to stay at Hogwarts

The Sorting Hat can read through

Your emotions and your mind

All's opened to me, heart and soul

So I'll see in which house you'll land

If you are strong and brave at heart

You'll go to Gryffindor for sure

Those of this house are told apart

By nerves and spirit of adventure 

If you are erudite and wise

If working hard doesn't scare you

If knowing is the aim of your life

So Ravenclaw must well fit you

If you are faithful and loyal

You'll be sorted into Hufflepuff 

Those ones love work of every sort

And they never have enough

Then now if you're sly and cunning 

Crafty and craving for success 

Well you'll dwell in Slytherin 

Where ambitious are welcome best

But now it's time to end my song

And it's time for you to step out

Of line; take me, put me on

And the Hogwarts Sorting Hat will sort you out!

The Great Hall burst into applause. The Hat bowed to the four tables, then stood still.

"We just have to wear the hat?" whispered a boy near Fergus Finnigan and Peter Pettigrew. "My cousin told me we'd have to recite every formula of _The Standard Book of Spells _…"

Lily sighted with relief. Wearing a hat – nothing was simpler. She noticed, however, that Remus looked greener than ever.

"You'll put the Hat on your head and sit on the stool when I call your name," said Professor Walsh as she unrolled a long scroll of parchment. "Let's start now. Alcott, Helena!"

A girl wearing a blue headband took a firm step. The Hat fell down on her eyes as she sat on the stool, then the rip opened again and cried, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Helena went to sit near the Fat Friar, who beamed at her. Then Professor Walsh called a unpleasantly familiar name, "Avery, Thomas!"

The Hat had barely touched his head when it cried, "SLYTHERIN!"

James guessed the following name. He glanced at Sirius. His friend had eventually given up his mask of indifference and looked pale.

"Black, Sirius!"

Sirius walked to the Hat. When he put it on his head, he didn't see anything anymore, then a small voice whispered in his ear, "Well, well, a second Black. Your sister brought us good things, you know … oh, yes, you do want to prove yourself, interesting. Quite an amount of courage, rashness, even. Much loyalty, too. Maybe Hufflepuff … no, you're rather vindictive, dying to prove your worth – you are smart, as sly as a fox. You'd make a good Slytherin if you were more ambitious, but you are not ambitious enough. So then Sirius, brave, dare-devil, unpredictable, vindictive, smart, foolish, generous – you are quite complicated, my boy. You'll make an excellent GRYFFINDOR!"

The hat had yelled in Sirius's ear; he stumbled slightly, then put the hat back on the stool and went to sit at the Gryffindor table. He still looked a bit pale, but that special grin of his was back on his face. He smiled encouragingly at the others, looking as if he didn't notice the applause – and especially Vega's ironic congratulations, "'Twas about time! I thought you would walk away with the hat on! And why are you soaked through and through?"

"Yeah, Vega, I'm glad to be with you too," he said over his shoulder, as "Connor, Sarah" was sorted in Hufflepuff. Then "Delaney, Fleur!", the brown-haired, black-eyed girl who didn't want to put the Sorting Hat on stumbled to the stool – "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lisa Dodger was sorted in Gryffindor too. She sat near Fleur Delaney and they started to chat as though they had known each other for ages. After "Dolohov, Antonin!" ("SLYTHERIN!"), it was Lily's turn. She started when the hat covered her eyes and Sirius realised she was hearing that funny little voice, too.

"My, what a thirst for knowledge, it's a pleasure to see in a Muggle-born. So then – Ravenclaw? It's the house of serious, hard-working people. You've got the qualities of a Hufflepuff too, you know. Loyal, faithful … But I can't be mistaken about a courage and a generosity like yours. Well, my child, no doubt it'll be GRYFFINDOR!"

Lily, beaming, sat near Sirius, who was applauding like mad. There were a lot of students left yet. It was the turn of "Finnigan, Fergus!" ("GRYFFINDOR!"), then "Gudgeon, Davey!" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), "Katapan, Mira!" ("SLYTHERIN!") and then, "Lupin, Remus!"

Remus, looking green, walked up to the stool. His hand was shaking when he put the Hat on.

"My, my, can this be true? A Lone One?"

Lily and Sirius from one side, James from the other, wondered what the Sorting Hat could have said to make their friend jump so violently.

"Don't be afraid, dear boy. I'm not used to see one around here, that's all. You are an exception in decades, maybe a hundred years, you know. Let's see then … you _are_ afraid indeed, but you know how to control it. You know rather well how to control your anger as well, which is quite rare in a child of your age. No hatred at all, but an intense loneliness – that nickname of your kind's suits you too well, unfortunately. A deep need for affection, much to give, a limitless loyalty and a great strength of mind – Hufflepuff would be good for you. But … no. Seeing what's written all over your heart … GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus put the Hat back down on the stool and walked like a sleepwalker to the table where Lily and Sirius were sitting, cheering and clapping hard, without hearing the warm applause greeting him – like the Gryffindors greeted anyone joining them.

Still three boys, "Lovett, Sean" ("HUFFLEPUFF!"), "McKinnon, Charlie", the boy with the joker cousin ("GRYFFINDOR!") and Michael Nott, who was of course sorted in Slytherin. Then it was Peter's turn. It took three or four good minutes to the Hat to decide, but eventually it sorted him into Gryffindor and he collapsed on a chair, looking relieved.

"Potter, James!"

James stepped forwards. Lily, Sirius and Remus kept their fingers crossed.

"The last Potter in date, let's see – you live up your family's tradition, dear boy. A quick mind, a hot temper, a very strong sense of fairness … not very keen on studying, but a surprising ability to understand. And a strong will to distinguish yourself. You could do with being sorted into another house than Gryffindor – you could do great things even in old Salazar's house, you know – but it would go against something that is in you … deeply rooted in you … So then, young Potter, it'll be GRYFFINDOR for you!"

James was beaming as he settled down at the Gryffindor table between Sirius and Remus; he high-fived them. Now, whatever happened, they'd be together to face it. The four of them – five, if you count Peter in. They hardly noticed Rosier then Snape being both sorted into Slytherin, applauded a pair of twins, Marissa and Marietta Scott who sat near Fleur and Lisa – so did Martin Riley and Tim Thomas who rejoined their friends Fergus Finnigan and Lisa Dodger. Soon they were only three first-years left – Wilkes ("SLYTHERIN!"), a boy, William Wilson ("GRYFFINDOR!") and a small girl with big hazel eyes, Zoey Zig ("GRYFFINDOR!").

Once the Sorting was over, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster, got up from the High Table and laid his cheerful, twinkling blue eyes over the four tables in front of him. His long and silvery hair and beard shone the same misty silver as the Hogwarts ghosts. He beamed down at the students, and Lily couldn't help but smile, too – this grin was infectious. She saw Remus relax, too.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Albus Dumbledore. "I know you're all starving, so I'd suggest starting the banquet at once. I've got only two words: _eat well!_"

As the first-years stared, amazed, dozens of dishes appeared on the tables, filled with steaks, chips, pastas of all sorts, fried potatoes, crudités, diverse vegetables, hams, sauces of all colours … and even mint humbugs in a small punnet.

"That's a classic," said an older Gryffindor to Lily, who was looking at the humbugs curiously. "They give us some each year. Some must like, I'd reckon."

"Sorting lasted a long time, this year," Vega told Sirius as she helped herself to tomato salad. "But there should've been one student more."

"What d'you mean?"

"Don't you remember? It was all over the headlines of the _Daily Prophet_ a few days ago, just before start of term. That family that Death Eaters attacked in Devonshire – the Jones. They had an eleven-year-old boy who was about to enter Hogwarts this year. And a four-year-old little girl."

"Filthy, slimy, evil monsters!" Lily cried, horrified, as she dropped her fork – it fell in her plate. Remus – who in the meantime had regained the use of his voice – said on a bitter tone, "They've done far worse than that. Death Eaters are vile creatures, they've sold their soul to evil. They committed countless abominable murders."

Lily heard a snap. It was Sirius, who had just put back down his goblet on the table rather violently. 

"Help yourself to that peppery sauce, Lisa," said Tim Thomas, handing her the sauceboat. "Have you heard that too? Looks like they've planted a Whomping Willow this year, over there in the park."

"Oh yeah?"

"The biggest kick, that'd be to try and touch the trunk and engrave initials."

"You'd be dead before you managed to approach it," said Lisa Dodger in a squeaky voice. "It's a very dangerous thing, a Whomping Willow. It punches you with its branches, very violent."

"Wonder why they've planted it."

"For all the time Sprout must have been dreaming of it," said the brown-eyed boy who'd spoken to Lily about the mint humbugs. "She must've jumped with joy when she learnt that. Oh wait, I haven't introduced myself – Mundungus Fletcher, third-year. Who're you?"

Names burst forth from the whole table; when everybody had more or less remembered everybody's name, Lily asked, "Who's Sprout?"

"I forgot, you're first-years. Sprout's the little witch over there. She's the Herbology teacher, she's the Head of the Hufflepuff house. Next to her, that's the Potions teacher, Rowena Walsh. She's the one who brought you here, she's the Deputy Headmistress and Head of Slytherin. She can turn very mean, be careful. Next to her, the tiny wizard is Flitwick, teaching Charms; he's so short that in class, he has to stand up on a pile of books if he wants to see his class. He's Head of Ravenclaw."

Mundungus stopped to regain his breath; a tall, slim, very red-haired boy named Arnold Weasley went on.

"Over there, that's Binns. He's the only ghost teacher in the castle, History of Magic. But be careful, his classes are so boring that he annoys everybody to sleep. At his left, the little old man who looks as if he's about to fell asleep down in his plate is Rebus Ricochet, the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. The place was said to be jinxed before he got it, but he's been scratching at it for sixty years, so, well … It's his last year before retirement. And as for the tall witch over there … I don't know her at all. She's probably the new Transfiguration teacher, the last teacher got killed by Death Eaters four months ago."

"But that's horrible!"

Lily stared round-eyed. Maybe she was thinking that teachers were immortal.

"And what about the ends of the table?"

"The giant who brought you up to the castle is Hagrid. He looks very fierce but don't trust appearances. He's really kind," said Vega. "He once invited me to have a tea at his hut. He's got a huge hound that drools all over you each time he sees you – just 'cause he's happy to see you."

Lily looked at Hagrid; Hagrid caught her glance and beamed behind his goblet. Then she turned her eyes towards the other end of the High Table, and suppressed a shiver. The man sitting there was tall and broad-shouldered; he had a thick skull, a very pale complexion and dark, cold, sunken eyes.

"Who's the other, just there?" she asked.

"Adams? Oh, he's another thing. Brutus Adams, the caretaker. Better to avoid that one," said Mundungus. "You can never know what to expect with him. It's said that one day, he hung a student by his ankles down in a dungeon, and he left him hanging there for three days just because he had a Dungbomb explode in a corridor."

"Three days?"

"That's what they say. But they say so much … Chicken, Sirius?"

The desserts appeared gradually as the main courses disappeared. Sirius had started his conversation with the ruff-wearing ghost again and now he was asking him something.

"C'mon, Sir Nicholas, _please_ …"

Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, alias Nearly Headless Nick, didn't like this kind of request that much. He was asked the same question each year and wasn't one to show off – but it was asked so politely. With a sight, he took his left ear between two long, slim fingers and pulled it up. Lily, Remus, James and the others watched in awe as his head tipped over to the right, tied up to his neck as if on a hinge.

"Well, young man, are you satisfied now?"

Sirius's delighted grin spoke for him. Nearly Headless Nick, rather flattered, put his head back in its place, then sighted, "I get this each year, you have no idea of how annoying it is."

Once the desserts all eaten, the plates cleaned themselves up in a blinking of an eye. Albus Dumbledore got up, and everyone was silent.

"Now we are all satisfied, and before you all go to bed in your respective dormitories, I have to say few words about the school rules. As Mr Adams pointed out to me, using magic is still not allowed between classes in the corridors; and the Forbidden Forest is still, as its name says so, _forbidden_. Some of our older students should set a good example to the youngest ones."

Lily would have sworn that Dumbledore glanced at Mundungus Fletcher as he spoke.

"We have something new this year: a Whomping Willow has been planted this summer in the Hogwarts grounds, and I'd like to warn you not to get too close to it. These trees are extremely violent, and I'm sure you care about your limbs enough not to want to loose one."

Sirius and Tim Thomas winked. Lisa Dodger rolled her eyes.

"Now as far as Quidditch is concerned, those who'd like to play for their house can contact Madam Hooch. Players will be chosen on the second week. 

"And I would like to welcome a new teacher."

He turned to the unknown witch sitting almost at the end of the table and smiled again.

"Professor McGonagall will teach Transfiguration, and she'll be the Head of the Gryffindor house."

McGonagall got up; she was tall, dark-haired, and looked stern with her tight bun and square glasses. However, if you looked attentively, you could spot some tension in her way of blinking slightly behind her glasses. She sat back on her chair.

"Finally – I'm sorry to end on such a grim subject, but I have to – we should observe a minute's silence, to the memory of those who have been murdered this summer. We _are_ at war. But that doesn't mean we must resign ourselves and forget."

The silence that had fallen over the Great Hall was deafening. You could only hear the sobs of a Hufflepuff second-year who knew the Jones family. At the High Table, all the professors bowed their head; Lily guessed they were thinking about their colleague. McGonagall in particular looked really ill-at-ease. Even Mundungus Fletcher looked sombre, too.

Once the minute's silence over, Dumbledore bid good night to everybody. The students got up from their tables; Vega got up first and said to Gryffindors, "First-years, this way!"

"A bit more of training and you'll manage to sound like Hagrid," Sirius yawned. "You'll even end up looking like him with all that we ate tonight … Aren't you afraid 'bout your diet?"

"Si! I'm a Prefect, I don't want you to ruin my authority! Shut up and follow me, or else I leave you here all alone!"

Sirius just shrugged.

"_Prefect?_" James whispered, once Vega out of earshot. 

"Don't you see the badge on her robes? She got it this summer. A prefect is an older student in charge of the discipline. And you know what? We're going to get it in the neck, pal. 'Cause dear lil' sister knows quite a lot about discipline."

They walked up a great marble staircase, then along endless corridors where characters in the pictures on the wall kept talking among themselves or calling out to them. A knight mounting a fat grey pony in particular was so annoying that Sirius furiously sent him packing. All he got as an answer was a challenge to a duel and a lecture from his sister.

At the end of a corridor, there was a picture on the wall, showing a very fat lady all dressed in pink silk. Sirius watched her suspiciously, not very enthusiastic from his first experience with characters from pictures.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked in a low voice.

"_Medusa_", answered Vega, and the picture swung open, letting a round hole in the wall.

Gryffindor common room was a small, circular room, filled with big, squashy armchairs and lop-sided tables, with a chimney on the left. They just had time to take a glance at it – they were ready to drop. Vega showed the doors to the girls' and boys' dormitories; James, Sirius, Remus and Peter said goodnight to Lily and Vega, then got up the stairs with the other boys.

The four friends walked past a couple of doors – there were five beds in each dormitory – and settled in the last. It counted only four beds, four-posters hung with red velvet. James supposed they removed a bed because of the boy who died – it didn't make any sense, but he was way too sleepy to think, and it was really too late. Their stuff had been brought there already – Sirius saw with relief that his guitar had been brought in too; James worried as he looked for his owl, Merlin, until he remembered he was probably at the owlery with the other owls. He pulled on his pyjamas and watched the others. Peter, looking slightly ashamed, took his teddy bear out of his trunk and stuffed it under his pillow; Sirius left his robes and clothes untidily on a bar of the bed and collapse into his bed; Remus folded his clothes neatly and put them in the wardrobe nearby.

A few minutes later, they were all in bed, curled up in warm sheets. Peter was already sleeping, sucking his thumb. Sirius, James, and Remus chatted until they drifted off – Sirius fell asleep so suddenly he didn't end his phrase. James followed closely, and didn't hear – much later at night – Remus give a slight sight of relief, "Here we are. And I'm in."

And he was smiling in his sleep.

*~*~*


	4. First Classes

Author's note: I checked on the Harry Potter Lexicon about the number of towers in the castle, and didn't find the actual number. So I'm sorry if I mistook on the towers, it's likely that I did.

*~*~*

****

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

__

Chapter 4: First Classes

Remus woke up first that morning. He remained for a moment lying on his back, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere reigning in the small room. The three others were sound asleep – almost. Remus heard James muttering in his sleep, Peter softly snoring, and Sirius – Sirius was apparently having a nightmare. Remus heard him struggle like the very devil in his bed. Wondering, he got up and drew back the curtains of the four-poster.

"Sirius? Sirius! Wake up, it's just a nightmare!"

Sirius stopped suddenly, his eyes wide open; Remus was struck to see the panic his eyes held.

"Calm down, Sirius, it's all right," said Remus very quickly. "Cool down now, it's over… Gosh, pal, that was some nightmare you were having! Feel better now?"

Sirius sat up and looked around, still wide-eyed from terror. Then he blinked, shook his head, and relaxed. He even gave the shadow of a smile.

"Yeah – I guess … Honestly, I'm incredible. Just waking up somewhere other than home sweet home and I panic … No, really."

"It's normal, you don't have to feel ashamed of this," Remus said reassuringly. "It took a whole minute till I remembered where I was myself. Besides you seemed to wake up from a really scary nightmare – do you remember something?"

"No, I never remember any of my nightmares."

"Sirius, are you sure? Sometimes it helps, talking about it."

"Don't worry 'bout me, I'll live. I didn't yell, did I?"

"No, you didn't, but you were struggling as if someone was trying to drown you."

"You know what? I must've eaten too much of the delicious beef and mustard sauce, yesterday at the banquet."

Remus couldn't get anything more from him. Then James and Peter woke up, and they had to go down to breakfast – which was much easier in theory than in practice.

There were a hundred and forty-two stairs at Hogwarts, dozens of corridors, and loads of secret passages. There were also doors that would open only if they wanted to – one of them even wanted to make Lily sing a lullaby before it would open, and Lily was so exasperated that she turned on her heels and walked away. Students who didn't have a good sense of direction got lost easily. Peter tagged along with James, Sirius and Remus in order not to get lost himself.

It was amazing to see how easily Sirius and Remus adapted themselves to the castle, especially Sirius. James was constantly surprised by the knowledge his friend had gained in so little time. James himself still had troubles getting used to Hogwarts – everything kept changing so fast. A door would appear one day and disappear later on, it would open onto different passages, open only one day a week, or even just pretend to be a door and not open at all. Some of the stairs in the numerous staircases would move under your feet, and some others had to be avoided if you didn't want to fall. Then there was Peeves the poltergeist of the castle who would pull the carpet out from your feet or push you behind your back to scare you, shouting "GOTCHA!!" in your ear. The only two persons who managed to handle him (more or less) were the Bloody Baron, the sinister-looking ghost that haunted the Slytherin dungeon – like Nearly-Headless Nick haunted the Gryffindor tower – and the caretaker, Brutus Adams. But Adams scared _everybody_. He was tall and burly, but no one ever heard him approach, and he scared first-years stiff. Always silent, he just had to fix his cold eyes on the students to make them want to scamper quickly. 

The only student who wasn't scared of Adams was Mundungus Fletcher. This guy was a natural joker, and James and Sirius started very quickly watching his techniques. He knew of secret passages which even Adams had no idea of, and that was very handy to hide himself in case of alert. Plus this kind of alerts were numerous – although afterwards, nobody could prove with certainty that Mundungus was behind the trick. He owned an impressive collection of Dungbombs, Professor Filibuster's Fireworks, and Cloudy Candles, and loads of other tricks that made things explode around him. Arnold Weasley, who was in Mundungus' year, told the two friends one day that 'Fletch' had managed, in less than one year, to have each student's cauldron melt in Potions at least twice – and Professor Walsh hadn't been able once to prove he was the one behind it.

So it was Mundungus Fletcher's feats that drove James and Sirius to do something themselves. Tired of being considered as little kids because they were first-years, they decided to act. And they didn't need to look very far to find an appropriate target – Severus Snape was a perfect choice.

Their very first class was Potions. The classroom was situated down in one of the dungeons, and they shared this class with the Slytherins. At Remus', Lily's and Peter's surprise, Sirius and James sat rather near the Slytherins. Professor Walsh began with taking the roll. When she reached Sirius's name, she looked up and said, "I hope that you'll do at least half as well as your sister did, Black."

Sirius looked offended. Then, when she had finished calling the roll, she told them about Potions, with her cold, sharp voice. Nobody dared to say a word.

"You are here to learn," she told the students then, "and I'm here to teach you, so I won't tolerate any uproar in this class. I speak, you listen, you write down. You speak when I ask you. And if someone doesn't agree, he or she can step out of this classroom right now."

Nobody moved.

"We'll start with a test, in order to see who deigned to open school books during summer. One point will be given for each right answer, one point will be taken for each wrong one. You" – she shot a cold glance at Peter, who turned very pale all of a sudden – "Pettigrew, is it? What is the difference between aconite and monkshood?"

Peter opened his mouth, but he didn't let out a sound. He looked around desperately. Snape began to snigger to himself. Lily and Lisa raised their hand at the same time, and Remus followed after a second. Walsh frowned, which made her look even more formidable.

"Now, give an answer!"

Still nothing. Wilkes was choking with laughter. Then Peter finally said in a very small voice, "Er … they aren't the same colour, aren't they?"

Snape collapsed onto his table, roaring with laughter.

"Admit it, Pettigrew, you don't even know what you're talking about," Walsh said coldly. "Aconite and monkshood are the same plant, also known as wolfsbane. One point from Gryffindor. You'll copy this chapter from your book ten times and you are to hand in to me in two days."

Peter looked as though he was about to dive under the table. James shot daggers at Snape and whispered something to Sirius. Sirius grinned knowingly and wrote down few words on a piece of parchment, then handed it to James.

"Now, Snape," Walsh said, turning to him, "instead of giggling stupidly, tell me which page of your Potions book shows the recipe of the Shrinking Solution?"

Snape looked triumphant and opened his mouth to answer; but instead of the expected answer, a big QUACK! came out. Snape turned very red as the Gryffindors burst out laughing. James high-fived Sirius under the table. 

"I see some of you already know the Duck-Tongue Spell," said Walsh in her grating voice. "Would any of you know the counter-spell as well? I'm quite curious to see that …"

Remus got up quietly and muttered few words. When he sat back, James and Sirius glared at him.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Are you mad? It's Severus Snape, in case you forgot!"

Remus just gave a mysterious smile and shook his head, "Just trust me on this one, ok?"

Snape gave the right answer, then shot a despising look at Peter, James and Sirius.

The class passed slowly; then the bell rang it over, and everybody got up to walk out of the classroom – save Snape. He just sat there, and you could tell by his scared face that he had absolutely no idea of what was going on.

"Well, Snape," said Walsh, "do you like my class so much you want to stay overtime?"

Snape looked up at her desperately. Sirius, James and Lily stopped at the doorstep.

"I'm – I'm stuck!" Snape finally uttered. "Someone glued me to my chair!"

The Gryffindors shouted with laughter again as Walsh turned furiously to Remus, "That was a low trick, Lupin! I don't think it's funny! Another point from Gryffindor!"

Despite the loss of points, the four friends were still laughing as they arrived in Flitwick's classroom. 

"I'll never doubt you again, pal," Sirius said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Gosh, Snape's face when he realised he was glued on his chair!"

"Priceless!" said James, grinning broadly.

"How'd you do it?" Peter asked admiringly. 

As a result, they were all in a very good mood during the whole Charms class, despite Flitwick telling them they wouldn't make objects fly before October. They just opened their books and began at the beginning – theory lessons. Mundungus was right: Flitwick needed a good pile of books to be able to see over his desk. But he put such an enthusiasm in his lessons that nobody felt like laughing at him. 

During lunch, Sirius, James, and Remus talked with animation about the new Transfiguration teacher. Everyone wondered if she was as strict as she looked – and she was a _new teacher!_ There hadn't been a new teacher at Hogwarts for a long time according to Vega.

"I bet she's just as scared as we are," Remus said.

"Oh, because _you_'re scared?" James joked. "You don't look so, you know."

"Maybe she just looks strict, and she's nice."

"We'll see that," pointed out Sirius. "Maybe she's just as mean as Walsh is."

"Well, as you said, we'll see!" Lily was the optimistic one.

When they reached Transfiguration classroom, the teacher wasn't there yet. It gave the students time to settle down, then the door snapped shut and Professor McGonagall stalked in. She put her briefcase on her desk, and looked intently at the students over her square glasses.

"Although I'm new here, I don't want you to think I can't handle a class. Whoever makes an uproar during my class will be expelled from here without return."

Then her voice softened slightly, and she went on, "My name is Minerva McGonagall, and I'm here to teach you the art of Transfiguration. I know this art is complicated and difficult; it won't be an easy thing, but if you pay a little attention to classes, everything will just be fine."

James, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and the others could only listen carefully after such an introduction. Sirius buried his chin in his hands and stared at McGonagall with a blissful look on his face as Remus chewed on his quill almost unconsciously. 

"And I warn little jokers," McGonagall added sternly, "first prank, and I turn the prankster into a camel – or something else."

As if to demonstrate what she could do to any student who dared pull a prank, she turned her desk into a brown and white spotted cow. She waited a few seconds for effect, and then waved her wand to bring the desk back. James gave a start, Remus dropped his quill, and Sirius straightened up. Transfiguration as a punishment was supposed to be forbidden, but better not to risk anything. 

As they walked out once the class dismissed, the students sounded enthusiastic – even Peter. It was true that, while Walsh didn't spare anyone, McGonagall would rather encourage. 

But James, Sirius, and Remus's favourite class was, by far, flying lessons. James already knew how to hand a broom and fly, and Remus had some notions, but Sirius had never held a broomstick in his whole life – anyway, not a magical one. However, the threesome revealed themselves to be rather good, along with Lisa Dodger and Charlie McKinnon. Madam Hooch, the teacher, gave them one rare smile, and told them that if they paid special attention to flying lessons, they would certainly be able to join Gryffindor Quidditch team next year. They just had to work a bit on their "style". Remus raised his eyebrows at the word, while a quizzical smile stirred James's lips and Sirius almost fell off his broom with laughter. He barely believed it. 

History of Magic was the most boring class they'd ever seen. Arnold Weasley didn't exaggerate when he said Professor Binns bored everybody stiff. It wasn't only the fact that nobody was really interested in the Great Goblins Rebellion, but Binns spoke quite monotonously. For some obscure reasons, History of Magic always fell in the early afternoon for the Gryffindor first years. Binns' tone of voice only added to the afternoon torpor, and they had to fight hard not to fall asleep.

The only class that could outdo History of Magic in tediousness was, curiously enough, Defence Against the Dark Arts. Professor Rebus Ricochet believed in theory and bookish knowledge, and he warned his students from the very start that practical lessons would be quite rare in his class.

"Defence against dark creatures, different curses or hexes require something other than a magic wand and a stroke of luck. It demands a great knowledge of everything related to the Dark Arts, and you'll gain this knowledge listening to my class and completing it by reading as many books as you can. I'll ask you to leave your wand in your bag whenever you come into this classroom."

Fergus Finnigan, who said he had already fought a troll, was furious at the end of the class.

"How does he want us to fight a thing like that with a _book_?" he thundered forth after he told his story for the umpteenth time. "Yeah, 'theory, only theory'… Blimey, we also have to learn _defence_!"

"A book can also be useful," Lily slipped in, though looking disappointed too. "As Flitwick said, 'nothing's the practice without theory basis'."

"Don't worry about that," said Sirius as he tried to stuff his_ Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_ in his bag, "this book's so heavy it'd stun at least two trolls."

In spite of her little disappointment in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Lily discovered delightfully she did manage rather well. Charms, in particular, fascinated her, and she was one of the firsts to handle practical lessons. In Potions, Walsh intimidated her, and she almost didn't dare raise her hand in fear of bringing the terrible teacher's wrath upon her. Sirius and maybe Snape were the only ones who didn't care about Walsh's acid comments. In fact, Sirius seemed impervious to bad moods. However, James noticed that the more the teachers pointed out Vega's excellence, the more his friend scowled. 

"C'mon, James, it's not my fault," Vega exclaimed when James told her about it. "I feel sorry about Si, honestly I do, but he has to build his own personality anyway, it can only be a good thing for him."

James was not that sure. But as Vega looked as if she had made up her mind, he didn't insist and just reassured Sirius in his – rare – bitter moments.

However, it seemed that Sirius wasn't the only one to have family problems. Two weeks or so after the start of term, Remus, looking worried and rather tired, told his friends he'd be absent for a couple of days. His mum was ill, and he preferred go back home briefly with the Headmaster's consent. Lily thought she could reassure him because her father was a doctor. She asked Remus about his mum's illness, but he was not able to describe the symptoms of any particular illness. 

When he came back the day after, at about the end of the afternoon, he was very pale – more than usual – and looked tired and ill. The four others, worried, wanted to ask him what was wrong, and what they could do – but he just shook his head with a faint smile, and said he'd been sick on the train during the journey back and that his mum was better. James, Sirius, and Lily wondered for few days, then the story was forgotten and things went back to normal.

A sort of routine had already set in: once you knew where you were supposed to go and especially _which way_ you were supposed to go, Hogwarts wasn't that impressive. Potions took place in the dungeons, Astronomy in North Tower, the Herbology greenhouses were behind the castle, almost on the grounds. In between, there was a maze of doors, corridors and classrooms. In the middle of it was Adams, and you never knew where he would turned up to catch you.

Sirius and James had already found the Slytherin common room. They spent their whole free time trying to find the password to sneak in and do what seemed natural to them – pulling pranks. While they were frustrated by not getting in, they made up for it in Potions, flying classes – poor Snape didn't look great on a broom – and Herbology. It was so easy. They just had to throw a Filibuster's firework in someone's cauldron, put a Dungbomb in someone's bag, or slip a frog in a Slytherin girl's robes – that was Sirius's speciality. First time he managed it was in Herbology class. Mira Katapan, a Slytherin girl he sat behind, who had a viper's tongue, jumped and shrieked enough to make everyone's blood run cold. Sprout dropped the pot she was holding.

"Miss Katapan? What's the matter?"

"I've got – somebody slipped – I've got something on my neck!!"

Professor Sprout took a firm step, looked down in her collar and took out a fidgety, still very wet and very green _frog_. The sight of it got a delighted "Aaaah!" from the Gryffindors and a disgusted "Yuck!!" from the Slytherins. Mira Katapan shuddered in disgust and Snape glared daggers at Sirius, who was laughing so hard he was crying.

It was a good beginning. But it was _only_ the beginning.

In no time, it turned out that Lily's special field was Charms. And it took little time to James, Sirius, and Remus – who was a good prankster too – to realise that Lily was good at Charms. One night near the end of September, as the Gryffindors was gathered in their common room before going up to bed, the four boys – James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter – stayed a while before going up to their dormitory. While Sirius was softly strumming a little tune on his guitar, under Peter's admiring stare – he wished he could do something like this – James and Remus went to Lily who was muttering the formula of the Levitation Spell to get used to it.

"Wing-_gar_-dium _Leviosa_ – no, wait, it's Win-_gar_-dium Levi-_o_-sa – Blimey, I'll never handle that if I can't even pronounce properly …"

"Lily?"

"Uh?"

Lily looked up and saw James and Remus standing in front of her, smiling in an almost angelic sort of way. She frowned, "What do you want, exactly?"

"We need the benefit of your wisdom, dear Lily," Remus said, bowing courteously. 

"Yeah, we'd like to learn something from you," James added.

Lily looked at each other in surprise, "You're not serious, are you? Gryffindor's two brightest would 'like to learn something' from a little Muggle-born girl like me? Quite a mess you must be in."

"Actually," rectified Remus, without paying attention to Sirius who had started whistling behind their backs, grinning evilly, "we'd like to know whether –"

"– if you would like to help us –"

"– pulling a little, tiny, big –"

"– Prank on Snape."

"That's it."

"Quite."

It almost sounded like a two-man comedy act.

Lily shut her book, laid her hands on the table, and looked at them straight in the eye.

"So then, does that mean that these gentlemen have had enough of throwing Dungbombs in the corridors, making cauldrons melt, or slipping frogs in the girls' collars?"

She glanced at Sirius as she said that. Then she looked back at the two others, and a smile formed on her lips. "It's always a delight knowing that you're needed."

"So – all right?"

"Yeah, all right, provided that Mister I'm-Hiding-In-The-Corner-Over-There-But-Still-Laughing-Under-My-Breath comes and begs for my help, too."

In a second's time, Sirius had gingerly put his guitar down; in two seconds time he strode cross the room, and in three seconds he was at Lily's feet bawling, "Oh, please, kind and fair lady! Do help us, for we are in a great distress – _we need a muse to inspire us!_"

Lily suppressed a fit of laughter, and answered in a strangled voice, "It's now _totally_ all right."

"Do we begin tomorrow then?" James asked casually.

"Why tomorrow?" Lily's sparkling green eyes were shining. "We can do it now!"

Remus stared wide-eyed at Lily. James and Sirius grinned mischievously at each other. 

"Lily dear – dearest Lily, we never would've doubted that –"

"That you guys didn't have the monopoly of pulling pranks? I may not spend my time spying on the Slytherins, but I've got one idea or two of my own about the question."

"So what do we do, then?"

"We wait for everybody to be in bed and we go towards the library."

"Uh? Come again?"

Lily sighed, "I know a book about everyday spells, curses and hexes, easy to use but redoubtable if you know how to use them well. And it's hidden somewhere round there."

"Who told you about that book?"

Lily shrugged. "Mundungus."

"Fletcher? The traitor! He'd promised to tell us his secret –"

"You just don't know persuasion."

"And how did you _persuaded_ him?"

Lily beamed, "I promised I'd say a few words about him to your sister, Sirius."

Sirius looked both scandalised and disgusted.

"Why do you pull such a face, Sirius?" Remus asked with a lopsided grin.

"Blimey, she's my sister – she's Vega – she's a prefect … and to think she – yuck! I wasn't serious when I teased her 'bout that – so then, she _does_ get chatted up, doesn't she? And top of it, the guy's the Great Mundungus Fletcher?"

"He's not _that_ great, he's two years younger than her," pointed out Lily.

"All the same … poor bloke, I do feel sorry for him … mooning over my sister …'

Lily peered at Sirius with her head tilted to one side, looking comically melancholy, "You know, Sirius, I _do_ understand the feeling. Well, let's get down here at eleven – right?"

"Eleven, right."

"See you, then!"

When they got up in their dormitory, Sirius put his guitar in its case with great precautions. James lay on his back in his bed and Remus picked up a book he had in his trunk. The threesome wondered how they'd get rid of Peter – he would be the only one staying in the dormitory, and even if he really wasn't one to notice everything around him, that could seem funny to anyone. 

The appointed time was getting dangerously closer, and the three boys began worrying, when Peter turned to them, with a mix of fear and determination on his round face, "I heard you back in the common room."

Remus put down his book, Sirius put down his guitar case, and James sat up. "What?"

"With Lily. You'll get into serious troubles if Adams catches you. Besides, Sirius, your sister's a prefect, if she catches _you_ she may well get you a Howler."

"A _what?_"

"A rocket you receive by mail at breakfast in front of the whole school."

"Ok, I got it. So then, what's your point?"

Peter's eyes lightened, "Let me come with you."

"Why that, Peter?" Remus said, frowning. 

"Snape hasn't stopped bullying me from the very first day," Peter said in a begging sort of voice, "I – I've had enough, I want to show him I'm better than he thinks! Plus I'm fed up with his repeating me I have no friends!"

James, Sirius and Remus consulted each other with few glances, then James turned to Peter.

"Ok, come, but not one word, right?"

"I'll be quieter than a Flobberworm," Peter assured. Sirius said "Hm" importantly, although he had no idea of what a Flobberworm could be. 

They found Lily again down in the common room. She raised an eyebrow to Peter but didn't say anything. Then they walked out of the common room after telling the Fat Lady the password.

In spite of the numerous attempts at pranks the three of them had already cooked up, James had never found himself out of bounds so late in the night yet. They could bump into Peeves at anytime, or worse, Adams, who had the regrettable and dangerous habit of turning up behind your back without a warning. The threesome already had had to deal with him, but Lily and Peter had never had any detention yet – they didn't know the cold sweat running down the back of anyone who got unlucky enough to be caught red-handed by Brutus Adams. He would take the culprit up by his collar and easily lift him up – he must be at least six feet two inches tall –, peering at the poor student with his cold, dark eyes, deeply set in his skull, muttering curses that would make anyone shiver.

James wondered – and he wasn't the only one – how Mundungus Fletcher, 'Fletch', managed not to be afraid of that guy. It was one of the reasons that Sirius admired him most. Sirius didn't envy Fletcher – he just wanted to be his equal in their common field. That was why, as he tip-toed in James's shadow, Sirius's eyes glittered much more than usual. He loved the wild throbbing of his heart and the shiver that ran down his spine as he prowled around the Hogwarts corridors by night. _We must be naturals_, he thought as he watched James, Remus and Lily who had the same glitter in their eyes_. Natural prowlers, at least._

Lily stopped, and walked to the wall. She pushed the picture of a crow, and turned to the boys, her eyes sparkling, "If Mundungus told me the truth, the book's in there."

The five of them peered at the hole – but they were quite disappointed. 

_The hole was empty._

Well, it almost was.

Lily, suppressing a vexed curse, took out the piece of parchment that lay instead of the expected book and unfolded it:

__

Dear Lily – or whoever finds this parchment,

You didn't really think I would give you one of the keys of my success like this, just because you did me a favour, did you? If you want my book, you'll have to search about for it!

"Gee!" Sirius exclaimed almost aloud. "That's not fair, damn cheater!"

"Sshh," James said, as he leaned over Lily's shoulder again in order to read the rest.

__

No, don't sulk. Come on, smile. Now, that's better. Well, I'll give you a hint. It's outside, in a small hiding place –

"Again? It's not a joke this time, is it?" muttered Peter. "We can't go outside now, it's cold!"

"Sshh," Sirius said.

"You've got some cheek to say that.'

"_Shush!_"

__

All I can tell you is that it's at the foot of the coldest tower of the castle, with the Great Dog keeping an eye on it. Now, if you don't guess with all these clues, then you're a desperate case…

Good luck!

P.S.: in case you didn't notice, I'm a bit of a joker …

"The 'coldest tower of the castle'?" Peter moaned. "And 'outside'? We aren't going now, are we?"

"Duh, of course we're going!"

"Oh, no …"

"Wait, _you_ wanted to go with us, didn't you? _Hey!_"

Lily let out a small cry and dropped the parchment that had started to burn. James frowned as Sirius cursed Fletcher under his breath admiringly. When the parchment had burnt out, ashes swirled up into the air, then vanished abruptly.

"Self-Igniting Spell," recognised James in a bitter voice. "Destroys a parchment as soon as you've finished reading it."

"James," Remus said in a dreamy voice, as Lily pushed the small door shut, looking disappointed too, "there are four main towers at Hogwarts, aren't there?"

"Yeah, east, west, north and south. Which one do you think is the coldest?"

"Well, _I_ think it's obvious."

James, Sirius and Peter stared at Lily intently. Remus alone smiled understandingly. She shrugged, "Which cardinal point do you think is the coldest? South, maybe?"

"The Astronomy Tower," James exclaimed in a low voice, "the North Tower, of course … we're idiots …"

And before Peter could add a word, the five of them were gone to the nearest exit.

Once outside, Sirius wished he had took his cloak with him. The wind was cold, and he shivered in his pyjamas. However, he tried not to show it and walked faster to remain level with the others. At least, they didn't have to be afraid of Adams or Peeves while they were outside, and that was already a good point.

The North Tower was the tower closest to the Forbidden Forest. While the five budding adventurers sneaked through the night toward the foot of the tower, the Forest was becoming nearer and nearer, darker and darker, and more and more menacing. As they reached the foot of the tower, Peter stopped suddenly.

"Did – did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Lily asked as she turned to him.

"Dunno, a – a sound!"

"Don't worry, Peter," Sirius joked. "That must be my stomach. I mustn't have eaten enough tonight, I guess."

"No, it wasn't that kind of noise," Peter breathed in a shaky voice. "I think –"

"What do you think it was?" James asked curiously.

"I think it was – a werewolf."

Three fits of laughter cut through the night.

"Blimey, Peter! I didn't know you had such a sense of humour, you know?" Sirius cried, splitting his sides with laughter.

"C'mon, Peter, don't worry," said Remus's voice from somewhere in the dark. "We're here to protect you, you know that, don't you?"

Was it just a feeling, or _did_ James feel something slightly odd in this reassuring voice?

"You don't have to be afraid of a werewolf tonight anyway," said Lily in a kind but firm tone. "Everybody knows they transform only when the moon is full. Come on, look around you, see any werewolf here?"

Peter shook his head, still uneasy. Sirius shrugged, and said, "Besides, if you're scared, you can still go back to the dormitory without us."

"No, not alone!"

Peter's cry came straight from his heart. Then he corrected rather sheepishly, "I – I'm a bit afraid right now, that's true, but if I bump into Adams, what could I tell him?"

When they arrived at the very foot of the tower, Lily recited the riddle aloud.

"So then, here's the 'coldest tower of the castle'. But what's that 'Great Dog' thing?"

"Maybe Hagrid's," James remarked. "Vega said he'd got a 'huge hound'."

"Nope, there wouldn't be capital letters here …"

Sirius was jumping up and down to warm himself up. Lily ignored him, thinking he only wanted to get attention, and rummaged about in the wild grasses growing at the foot of the tower. Then she let out a little cry of joy, and stepped aside: a big stone sheet was engraved in the worn-out stone. And there were drawings …

"What's that thing?"

"Oh," exclaimed Remus, "that's the symbols of the constellations. Look, here's Orion the Hunter, Draco … Ursa Major and Minor …"

James, Remus and Sirius – who was still gesticulating as much, now with chattering teeth – helped Lily clear the sheet of grass out of the way, then stepped back.

"It's 'Great Dog', isn't it? What's – Sirius, _just stop_ fidgeting like this, you're not helping here!"

"It's n–not my f–fault if I'm c–c–cold!" cried Sirius in a shaky voice, between two episodes of chattering teeth. James gazed at him oddly, then at Lily, then back at Sirius, and exclaimed in a low voice, "Lily, you are a _genius!_"

"Am I?" Lily said, baffled. "Well, thanks –"

James took a step forward and cleared the symbol of Canis Major; he pushed it, as Lily had pushed the crow, and the sheet opened. Remus, Lily and Sirius got closer, eyes shining.

"Let's just hope it's worth while," Remus whispered, ignoring Peter's frightened little squeaks behind them. James leaned over and took the hidden old book; he blew the dust off, and read _Three Thousand, Two Hundred and One Tricks of All Kinds_.

"I bet it's worth while," Sirius whispered back. "Totally cool."

"B–b –but – l–"

"What _now_, Peter?"

"L–look ov–over there –"

James turned around, and even in the dark Lily could see him changing colour. She asked worriedly, "James? What's wrong?"

Without a word, James pointed shakily to the Forest. An _enormous_, weird-coloured animal was charging at them. Remus and Sirius turned about in turn; Remus opened his mouth, but didn't managed to let out a sound, while Sirius, his eyes bulging, breathed, "Oh dear –"

"Let's get out of here!" James hissed, finally finding the use of his voice again.

The next second, they were all running in the same direction – not that they knew which one – the faster they could, hotly pursued by the beast whose hoarse breath they could hear right behind them. Pure terror winged their feet, and no one looked where they ran – until James stumbled and crumbled to the ground. Sirius caught him by one arm and half lifted him, to help him up on his feet again, but it was too late: the animal leaped at them.

Remus turned round at once and started running to where his friends had fallen just as fast as he was running two seconds before in the opposite direction, closely followed by Lily. Out of breath, with his throat choked by anguish and his heart pounding, he stopped and tried to see through the dark. He only made out the vague outline of the gigantic thing, its somewhat yellow colour making a rather sharp contrast with the darkness around.

"Help! Gerroff me, get off I said!"

This time, no doubt was possible. It was James's voice. Remus ran to the beast, grasped bravely what seemed to be its head and pulled it back as hard as he could. A whining could be heard, then a familiar voice boomed out only a few feet from them, "Back, Curly! Down! Leave 'em alone!"

Half puzzled and half relieved, Remus and Lily watched the huge outline of Hagrid striding toward them, holding a lantern. In its glimmer, Remus saw that the beast was a great yellowish dog, backing up whimpering, glancing up at him almost reproachfully. James sat up on his elbows, and Sirius wiped away the dog's slobber covering his face.

"Don' be mad at him," Hagrid said, as he helped up the two of them. "He migh' look fierce, but he wouldn't hurt a fly even if it bit him. He only wants teh play."

James's legs weren't steady yet. Peter was shaking like mad, Lily was shivering in spite of the heat from the running, and Sirius was still chatting teeth. Hagrid glanced them over, then said with a nod, "Come, yeh'll catch yer death if yeh stay here."

The four kids followed Hagrid to his hut. He had them sit on a huge bed covered with a patchwork counterpane, then he started making tea. 

"I know yeh two," he said to Sirius and James as he handed a smoking cup to each one. "You're the two boys who fell into the lake back in that firs' night. Yeh're James Potter, and you – you must be Altaïr Llevellyn's boy – yeh've got yer mum's eyes. Yer name's Sirius, isn't it?"

Sirius nodded. Hagrid gave a broad smile.

"I knew yer mum, yeh know. Very kind she was, and a pretty girl. And as fo' you – yeh must be Remus Lupin."

Remus looked surprised.

"How'd you know our names?"

"Eh, I was at the Sorting, wasn' I? And Professor Ricochet told me 'bout yeh – only firs'-year keen on Defence Agains' the Dark Arts. And even Hist'ry o' Magic, I heard."

Remus gave a lopsided grin. Hagrid took a sip on his tea, then turned to Lily.

"Lily Evans, Muggle-born, aren't yeh? Professor Flitwick spoke well 'bout you, impressed, he was. Yeh don't seem lost at all, for a Muggle-born, no offence."

"Nope," said Lily, shaking her head, "it's all right. It's great to be here – we learn so many things …"

Lily and James winked at each other. Then Hagrid turned to Peter. The boy hadn't drunk his tea yet, and was sitting rather stiffly on the bed.

"Well, what's the matter here? Not because o' him, is it?"

He pointed Curly, who had his head rested on Lily's lap; she was stroking him gently, not paying attention to the fact that he was cheerfully slobbering on her robes.

"He's not gonna eat you, yeh know. What's yer name?"

"Peter Pettigrew," said Peter, a bit upset to be the only one whose name Hagrid didn't know.

Once the six cups emptied, Hagrid frowned at them, "Now, tell me wha' yeh was doin' round here? It's very dangerous, goin' outside by night, especially these days!"

The five kids looked at each other. They hadn't thought of an excuse that would explain it all. Then Remus spoke.

"We couldn't sleep, so we got down to the common room; Lily was there as well, she couldn't sleep too. She was reading her _Standard Book of Spells_. We talked for a while, then one of us – don't remember who – wanted to go to the toilets, so we came along with him, it's so easy to get lost in those blasted corridors. Peeves noticed us, and he though it was, er – amusing – to make us go through an odd door that opened right onto the grounds. We landed at the foot of the North Tower, and Curly spotted us. We got scared, so we ran without thinking."

Remus had spoken in one go, without thinking and almost without breathing; when he finished, the four others had an admiring look in their eyes.

"Hm," said Hagrid dubiously, "right, let's say it's forgotten fer now. Curly scared yeh enough, I guess. But watch out from now on – it coulda bin anythin' but Curly that leapt on yeh, an' I won' always be here ter watch over careless kids goin' out at ungodly hours. Was tea good?"

Five heads nodded. 

"Right, I'll get yeh back to yer common room," said Hagrid as he got up. "Yeh don' feel like explaining it all to Adams if you bump into, I guess?"

They met the caretaker indeed, as they tiptoed along the corridors. Hagrid explained the whole story to Adams, who, judging by his delighted expression, was already seeing the five students hanging by the feet down in a dungeon. But Hagrid glared at him, and despite the venomous look that lingered in his own cold eyes, Adams didn't insist. Being ten feet tall has its advantages.

Hagrid bid them goodnight at the door of their common room. The Fat Lady was slightly amazed, but let them in after they said the password. They found again the cosy, round little room with joy, and collapsed into soft armchairs.

"All the same," breathed Sirius, "all this mess for one book – I'm gonna kill Fletcher."

Peter let out a small approving noise. He was still shaken.

"Besides, I bet we lost it while we were running," James sighed. "All this work for nothing …"

He stopped when he met Lily's big, sparkling green eyes: she was grinning broadly, despite the tiredness painted all over her face. Slowly, she picked something out from her cloak – _Three Thousand, Two Hundreds and One Tricks of all Kinds_. Three faces literally lit up.

"Haven't I told you Lily _was_ a genius?" James cried enthusiastically.

"YEAH!!"

It would have been difficult to say which boy was the happiest one. Lily blushed almost of the shade of her dark flame-coloured hair. 

*~*~*~*~*

To Moon: it's the second time you review my story – I'm flattered, I really am. I hope you like this one!   
  
To Kim, alias Starlight: your stories are wonderful. I re-read _Mirror's Gift_ (again, I know! :o] ) in full and got my eyes stuck to it till the word "the end". I can't wait to see the whole version of your new story, to read it in one go! Don't listen to it, take your time, I trust you to come up with something great.   
  
To Alive And Kicking: j'adore ton nick – d'où tu l'as sorti, au fait? J'ai vu que tu avais aimé le 3ème chapitre … j'espère que tu aimeras aussi celui-là!!  
  
To Athena_Arena: I'm dying to see your MWPP … In the meantime, I'm still translating your "Unknown Witness", and I love it!

I hope you had fun reading this … I promise you some more very soon! J 

This chapter is dedicated, as usual, to my friend Johanna (bon courage, Jo!) and to my beta-reader Yolanda, who's doing a wonderful job.

Thank you all!!

*~* Belphegor *~*


	5. Toilets and Tribulations

*~*~* *~*~*

Author's note: I hope you like this one – I had quite some fun with Walsh's character. Writing a mean person can be awfully entertaining, you know J 

This chapter is dedicated to Johanna – I've read your 2nd chapter, no surprise of course but I found it delighting ! Good luck with the next! – and to my beta reader Yolanda – _Taking Sides_ is just as good as _Letting Go_, I can't wait to see the 6th chapter!

Love,

~ Belphegor ~ the Weird One !

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

__

Chapter 5: Toilets and Tribulations

The _Three Thousand, Two Hundreds and One Tricks of all Kinds_ provided them with a huge help in order to improve their 'style' of pranks. Mundungus Fletcher never asked it back – he must have learnt it by heart by then. He just watched things from a distance, with a smile playing on the corner of his lips, without forgetting his own pranks however.

Sirius still couldn't stomach his sister being 'chatted up'. During meals, he would look at Mundungus, then at Vega, then back at Mundungus, almost afraid of catching a knowing wink, or an infatuated look – but Vega didn't seem to pay any attention to her brother's hero. Sirius eventually asked Lily whether she _did_ talk to Vega, as Fletcher asked her to.

"You know, Sirius," she'd answered with a chuckle, "Mundungus's fighting a losing battle and he knows that. Seems he's been hanging around her for three years now, and she's been ignoring him for three years. So quit worrying like that, will you? Now if you want fresh gossips, go around Lisa and the Scott twins. Get it?"

By dint of having his eyes linger about everywhere, Sirius noticed that Mundungus wasn't the only one mooning after Vega. A tall, blond, grey-eyed guy from Hufflepuff, whom the girls admired because of his swaggering, assured and a bit boastful air, had apparently set his heart on the black-haired girl. Amos Diggory was a seventh-year, and had ignored her superbly till then; but now she was in her fifth year, she'd suddenly became worthy of interest, and he made such a fuss around her that Hufflepuff seventh-year girls were jealous. Even if he would become downright annoying sometimes, Vega let him keep his delusions, just putting him in his place in a kind sort of way when he was really too annoying. Despite of her stern and serious exterior, she was way too soft-hearted to make anyone feel bad knowingly, even a pain in the neck like Amos.

Apart from these little 'family problems', Sirius didn't seem to have any trouble in life. James admired vaguely his watertight optimism always tinged with sarcasm. He would remain stonily indifferent even at Walsh's – whom he had nicknamed 'the Iron Lady' – acid comments. In Transfiguration class, he made sheep's eyes at Minerva McGonagall from his four feet seven inches tall. The young woman would frown sternly, but smile as soon as her back was turned at this eleven-year-old kid's fantastic cheek, pretending to ignore he called her 'Lady Minerva', half for a joke and half out of respect.

James himself had never been so happy in life. For the first time, he had genuine friends, who hadn't dropped him when he had needed them, even if their little nocturnal adventure didn't turn out to be so dangerous – Curly the gigantic dog was no ferocious beast despite his formidable appearance.

As for his parents, he missed them much less than he had feared. On the first nights, his mum not kissing him goodnight felt weird, but nothing more. He didn't miss his father – William Potter was so often absent from his home for his work that James found almost natural his not being there. He wasn't a wicked man, but his love of his job added to a coldness of manners and a permanent, rigid self-control didn't encourage to sentimentality. Never James had called his father 'Dad', and Mr Potter seldom embraced his son. This state of things was sad, but had remained unchanged for long, and the whole house was used to it.

That's why James loved Hogwarts so much – the atmosphere of constant weirdness and soft madness that reigned there was so different from what he'd known till then! Back at home, he felt locked up, especially the rare times his father was there; at Hogwarts, with his friends at his sides, he felt really free.

For even if the castle was and remained a closed-in place, the four boys sneaked into each nook and corner, everywhere they could. By the middle of October, they had spotted several secret passages, which Adams and Mundungus Fletcher didn't seem to be aware of. Other Gryffindor first-years started to admire them, even envy them a little; Lily got her part of glory, since she was the only girl who was part of their little gang, even just sometimes. Nicknames such as 'the fantastic four' or 'the dream team' were already spreading among first-years; however, among the adults, the term 'fiendish foursome' was the more frequent, especially when the speaker was Adams. He was the only one the four friends were sure they'd run into, as soon as they ventured wherever that was dark, weird, eerie. It seemed he was everywhere. James, Remus and Sirius were not afraid of him, but Peter was downright scared.

Since the _Three Thousand, Two Hundreds and One Tricks of all Kinds_, the North Tower and Curly episode, James, Sirius and Remus had gained Peter's boundless admiration. Overcoming his fear, he would hang around them more and more, helping with every trick and every prank. The growing fame the gang was starting to gain gave him a little self-confidence, and he even started to take initiatives sometimes. Echoes of that must have gone round Slytherin as well, for Severus Snape didn't bully Peter as much as before.

Snape actually kept it down since our four pranksters had chosen him for a target. One day it was his robes suddenly changing colours, the other his hair stood on end by itself, another day again – in Potions class – the contain of his cauldron flew up to form the outline of a snake, a lizard or another cold-blooded beast … Not to mention his pointed hat which, sometimes, would be pull down over his eyes. Whatever Snape tried, the hat would not let itself be taken off for some reason. One of James's favourites.

Snape tried to put up a good show in front of his fellow Slytherins, but on the quiet he was fuming – especially since he was starting to be laughed at openly. Only his little gang remained faithful, along with a Slytherin first-year, a girl with a square jaw and dog-like wet eyes named Penny Mordacian, who had a crush on him. However, by dint of chewing over his dark mood and his rancour, one day he came up with a little idea.

It was a fortnight before Hallowe'en, a while after the beginning of a Potions class. The preparation they were brewing that day was a Bearding Beverage – a potion which was supposed to make beard grow on the drinker's chin. Sirius and James had already finished theirs, Remus and Lily were still battling over the last ingredients; Peter, who had been paired with William Wilson, was scratching his head with a puzzled look on his face, while William wondered where the heck their piece of salamander skin which was still on the table one second before could've gone.

As for Snape, he had finished his potion. Professor Walsh walked past him and Thomas Avery to test it on the latter; a three days' stubble grew on Avery's chin – the boy was delighted. After giving him the antidote and awarding Slytherin one point, Wash turned to two other partners.

"Wait, Remus," Lily said with a frown. "Normally, if I remember well, we're supposed to put the camel hairs _before_ the salamander skin. And _then_ we add llama saliva."

"Are you sure that llama saliva isn't to be put _before_ camel hairs?"

"Yeah … well, no, not quite."

"Look, we can ask James and Sirius since they've already finished – seems it worked, doesn't it?"

"You're right. Oy, guys!"

James and Sirius turned round.

"Hm?" Sirius said.

"Oh God," Lily chuckled as she stared at him. "Sirius – you do look like a runaway convict with that thing over your chin. It doesn't suit you at all."

"Well, thanks", Sirius said in an offended tone. James started to laugh softly to himself.

"We're waiting for Walsh to give us the antidote," he said, while Remus hid his smile behind his hand. "How're you doing?"

"Er … we've got a llama hairs and salamander saliva problem. Or maybe I'm mixing up –"

"Uh?"

While Remus and Lily asked James and Sirius, Peter felt himself more and more at sea. Seeing that Walsh wasn't looking, William had dived under the table, in quest for the lost piece of salamander skin, and Peter himself had raised each book, each flask, each receptacle several times to see if the piece of skin wasn't there. Peter gave a sigh and thought with a shudder of Walsh who wouldn't be long spotting it, as usual, so she could seize the occasion to bully a student in front of the whole class.

Suddenly, without any apparent reason, there was a huge _splash!_ as if someone had thrown an invisible stone in his cauldron; Peter found himself covered with brownish liquid, while everybody dived under the tables. William gave such a jump he bumped his head under his. 

When things came back to a relative calm, Walsh strode toward Peter, with her eyes glittering, "Pettigrew, I should have known that a disaster was about to happen with your cauldron. It will cost Gryffindor ten points. When did it happen last time? A week ago, wasn't it?"

James, Sirius, Remus and Lily slowly emerged from under their table. Peter, his head hanging low and his chin trembling, looked for a tissue in order to wipe the potion from his face.

"What have you done this time? What did you add to your Beverage to make it explode like that?"

"But …' Peter moaned as he wiped his eyes from the brownish liquid that half blinded him, "b … but I … I …"

"What, Pettigrew?" Walsh said in her icy voice. 'Do you have something to say? I'm listening, now speak!"

Peter, on the brick of tears, didn't manage to utter a word. James stood up and cut in, "Professor, he's covered with potion – he should go and see Madam Pomfrey …"

"Don't worry about him, Potter," Walsh said in her grating voice, turning her small, piercing eyes to the black-haired boy. "The Bearding Beverage, as its name says so, is a _beverage_ – it does not affect skin. Pettigrew only _has_ to be taught this lesson, so he won't act thoughtlessly again."

Lily looked at Snape; his black eyes were glowing, and he'd never looked so glad, nor so despising. She glared him daggers, then glanced at Peter. His chubby chin was trembling more then ever.

"But Professor," Remus said, standing up in turn, "even if it's not dangerous, he should go and wash his face. The liquid's going to dry, and it's unpleasant enough, don't you think?"

"Not to mention it's cruel humiliating someone like that," Sirius added, his clear eyes sparkling. "And Peter didn't do anything. It's that slimy git" – he pointed Snape – "who's done I dunno what."

"I don't think I asked you your opinion, Lupin," Walsh said coldly. "As for you, Black, having three hairs on your chin doesn't allow you to speak to me that way. Your disrespectful attitude and unwarranted accusation will cost Gryffindor five other points. Now _sit down_, the three of you."

Without paying any attention to Sirius, whose clear eyes were now blazing, she turned to Peter; he was standing with his head hanging so low that they could only see his mousy hair dripping with brown liquid, and his shoulders shaking softly.

"Well, Pettigrew," said Walsh in her low, cold voice. "I think you've had your house lose enough points, haven't you? Go to the nearest bathroom – first corridor on the left – and wash your face. I expect you back here before the end of class, is that clear?"

Peter walked cross the room slowly, almost stumbling but with his head raised. Everybody could now see the tears forming in his eyes. Nobody let out a word for a moment – not even the Slytherins. Then the classroom door was shut and Walsh cast her gleaming eyes on the students, "All right. Who's finished his or her Beverage?"

* * *

When he had shut the door, Peter ran to the bathroom. He pushed the heavy oak door open, shut himself up in a cubicle and collapsed on the floor, shaking with sobs. Snape throwing something in his cauldron, that wasn't rare. Founding himself covered with a brownish liquid thing, ok, he could survive. As for getting a ticking-off the Walsh way, he had grown more or less used to it. But the three added, plus the injustice, the humiliation and Gryffindor losing fifteen points because of him were much enough to crush Peter.

When tears became less frequent, Peter got back on his feet and went to the nearest sink to wash his face. He wiped off the tracks of tears and the brownish marks, and spent a long moment staring down at the old cracked sink, wondering why he had to go back in class, and face the sniggers and the Slytherins' sneers. Then voices echoed in his mind – 

__

"… he should go and see Madam Pomfrey …"

"… it's unpleasant enough, don't you think?"

"… not to mention it's cruel humiliating someone like that. And Peter didn't do anything." 

James, Remus and Sirius had _defended_ him. They'd stood up and faced Walsh for him. They were strong, brave, they did not fear either Walsh, nor Adams, nor some ferocious yellow beast darting on you without a warning. They were his _friends_ – they wouldn't drop him.

His bravery found again – partly – Peter raised his head again, cast a steady look at his reflection in the dirty mirror and walked to the door. He put his hand on the handle, pulled it … 

_The door didn't open._

It took Peter few seconds to notice that the door wasn't locked up from inside, or even outside – it just _wouldn't_ open. Peter could even hear it humming in a low voice.

Feeling his calm and assurance running away, Peter pulled the handle as hard as he could. He pulled, pulled and pulled again, but without any result.

"Oh no," he whispered.

"_No!_"

He started to drumming at the door frantically with his fists as he called as loud as he could, "Help! Somebody, anybody! I'm locked in here, help!"

He kept shouting himself hoarse, but nobody answered him.

* * *

In the meantime, in the Potions classroom, Walsh seemed to have forgotten the incident. Sirius had lost his stubble and was now chatting with James in a low voice. Remus and Lily eventually managed their experience and now copied down in silence. William Wilson was sitting alone at his table, his head a little bent and rather shamefaced.

Half an hour, then three quarters of an hour passed, and Peter wasn't back yet. Some Gryffindors were even starting to worry.

"Where's little Peter gone?" Fleur Delaney whispered to Lisa Dodger. "Walsh told him to come back at once."

"Maybe he's stayed in the bathroom to cry," said Lisa. "Did you see his face when he walked out? Poor thing."

At the end of the class, Walsh took another point to Gryffindor because of Peter's absence – he hadn't come back at all. Most of the concerned students sulked – it was many points lost in little time – but four of them were seriously worried.

James, Sirius, Remus and Lily ran to the bathroom door as soon as they could go out of the classroom, after gathering Peter's books and stuffed them into his bag.

"Peter!" Lily called as they reached the thick, heavy oak door. "Peter? Are you in there?"

No answer came from behind the door. Remus tried to open it, but failed.

"Peter, did _you_ locked the door? Open, it's us!"

Still nothing. James looked hard at the door; he finally stood up and said, "Maybe it'll sound weird, but this door isn't locked from inside nor outside."

"So it's locked itself up, hasn't it?" Sirius said in jest. "It must be blocked, that's all. Peter must've found the door locked, go elsewhere and get lost. We'll find him, he's got to be somewhere."

"And what about the Transfiguration class we've got now?" Remus asked, raising his eyebrows.

"We'll explain it all to McGonagall once we've found him," James retorted. "I'm in her good books because I listen in her classes, if you want _I_'ll speak."

"Everybody knows that Jamsie here is dear Lady Minerva's pet," Sirius added with a friendly mocking smile. "C'mon, we're off."

The three boys turned on their heels; Lily stared at the door dubiously for a while, then followed them.

They walked up a few floors, calling for their pal; near the Charms classroom, they met Vega who was going to the Herbology greenhouses along with the other fifth-year Gryffindors.

"Oy sis," Sirius called out as soon as he saw her. "Seen Peter, by any chance?"

"Peter? Nope. Why, did he get lost?"

"Well, actually he went out to the bathroom, but the one in the dungeons has its door blocked, so we think he must've looked for another and got lost."

Vega stopped dead, and peered worriedly at the four friends, 'You were in Potions, weren't you?"

"Er … yes," said Lily.

"And Peter went to the bathroom in the basement, did he?"

"We think so," Remus cut in, "but he surely couldn't go in since the door's locked up …"

Vega still looked as worried.

"Look, I know that toilet. The boys', down in the dungeons. Dan wanted to go in there one day, back in our second year. The door let him in, but not out."

"D'you mean that –"

"That door's blocked only when someone's inside," she went on, her voice slightly higher. "It's, let's say – it likes to _play_. It's always the same with that door, and it can last long. That means someone's locked in there. Did you knock?"

"Yeah, we even called out, but no one answered."

Vega looked around, then turned on her heels with a resolute look on her face.

"Wait, Vega! Where're you going?"

"See McGonagall and tell her the whole thing. She'll know what to do. Now go back down there, and call again."

While Vega ran to the Transfiguration classroom, James, Remus, Sirius and Lily rushed down the stairs leading to the dungeons. When they reached the door, they stopped for a while to collect their breath again.

"D'you – d'you think Peter's in there?" Lily asked, in a slightly breathless voice.

"We'll quickly know that, won't we?"

James came near the door and banged his fists on it as he called again, louder this time, "Oy! Is there anyone in there? Peter, 'that you?"

"Are you sure there _is_ someone in there?" Sirius whispered to Lily. Remus, who'd been pricking up his ears, said "Shh!" and signed for them to approach.

Half of a second of a complete silence passed, then the foursome could clearly hear a small, weak voice whispering from behind the door, "Help … p – please, help …"

"It's Peter!" Lily cried. She looked rather pale.

"Hold on, pal, we're going to get you out of here in no time," Remus said reassuringly. He really would have believed it.

But soon they heard footsteps down the stairs and the corridor, and McGonagall turned up, closely followed by Vega.

"What's happening here? Miss Black told me someone was locked in there –"

"It's Peter Pettigrew, Professor," James said, turning to her. 'The door's been refusing to let him out for an hour."

"_An hour?_' said McGonagall, raising her eyebrows.

"His cauldron exploded in beginning of Potions class, and W – Professor Walsh sent him there for a cat-lick. He's still in there," Remus insisted in a urgent tone.

Professor McGonagall took her wand and walked to the door.

"Open yourself, please."

The door did not open.

"I said: open yourself, _please_," Professor McGonagall repeated quite calmly. She repeated it a few times, but with no result; then she rolled up the sleeves of her robes, raised her wand and said to the students over her shoulder, "Right then. There are times where the polite way doesn't work, and magic is necessary. Now stand aside, please."

She pointed her wand and said, "_Alohomora!_" The door opened with a creaking, almost reluctantly; McGonagall stepped in. The five students could hear her give a muffled exclamation; when she came back out, she was carrying Peter who looked unconscious.

"Peter!" exclaimed James, astonished and concerned. "What happened to him?"

"It seems thathe's been locked in there for an hour_ indeed_,' McGonagall retorted, glaring at the door. And that _thing_ indeed refused to let him out. Please support him, will you?'

Remus took Peter's arm and laid it over his shoulders; Lily gently raised his chin and wiped kindly the tracks of tears that furrowed his round cheeks. 

"Poor thing," Sirius said. "What're you doing, Professor?"

"He must be taken to the hospital wing," answered McGonagall, taking her wand back, "but I can't carry him all the way to there."

A little wave of her wand, and a stretcher appeared, floating in mid-air a foot up from the floor. Remus set Peter down onto it and McGonagall, with a nod, climbed up the stairs, directing the stretcher with her wand.

Vega left them when they reached the ground floor, after an encouraging look at her brother and the others. When they arrived at the hospital wing, Professor McGonagall talked a bit with Madam Pomfrey, the matron, who took Peter along; then she turned to the four students, "We're going back in class," she said. "I'm afraid the lesson will be reduced drastically, but the students are waiting. And we're _all_ going,' she added on an unanswerable tone, seeing that James and Sirius were looking at the door of hospital wing. "You'll go and see Pettigrew after class."

The four friends could have protested, but not with McGonagall. Even young, a feeling of power and authority issued from her, and in that very moment, with her cheeks flushed from climbing three stairs and her eyes glittering, they even less wanted to cross her.

When they came in the Transfiguration classroom behind McGonagall, the chatting inside stopped at once, and they heard a rumble, meaning that everybody regained the seat they had left. McGonagall frowned and asked, "Miss Dodger, I think I'd asked you to keep an eye on this class with McKinnon … What's happened here?"

James and Sirius took a step closer, so they could see Lisa, looking sheepish, extricate herself from a heap of crumbled pieces of parchment. Charlie was back on his seat, laughing to himself.

"Well –" she stammered, "they – they wouldn't listen to me – Charlie said scolding them was no use – I insisted, but they said I wasn't funny – so they wanted to play at throwing crumbled pieces of parchment –"

Professor McGonagall listened with her brows furrowed.

"I don't congratulate you," she told the class once Lisa had finished spluttering. "You had an occasion to earn a few points by keeping up a calm, reasonable attitude and you wasted it. Now I'm forced to take five points from Gryffindor. Take your books now, and let's make up for the lost time."

Even James, who was quite keen usually in Transfiguration, had troubles with concentrating on that lesson. He fidgeted nervously with his quill and looked at his watch every two minutes. Sitting at his left, Sirius had his jaw tightened, and he didn't open his mouth for the whole hour. Remus and Lily shared a few whispers, and many Gryffindors looked curiously at the four of them.

The bell rang at last and freed them. The four friends jumped out of their seats and ran towards the stairs – Lily almost dropped her bag while stuffing it with books and Remus stumbled on the playful step between the third and the second floor.

Once arrived at the hospital wing, however, they were disappointed. 

"Let him rest," Madam Pomfrey told them. "He'll be fine, it was only terror and exhaustion – finding himself locked in an enclosed place made him panic. He'll go out of here tomorrow around the end of the morning.'

"He knew it," Sirius whispered when they were back in the corridor. It was the first word he uttered since McGonagall had taken Peter to the hospital wing. He was pale with anger. James turned to him, his eyebrows raised.

"What? Who knew what?"

"Snape. I don't know what he's done, but I'm sure he cooked up the whole thing. He chose Peter because he's the weakest of us, he chose Potions class because Walsh doesn't like anyone and she loves bullying Peter – I'm ready to bet he even chose this very lesson because the Bearding Beverage isn't dangerous for the skin, so that Peter just had to have a wash to that very toilet – the one with the playful door."

"Don't you think you're going too far?" said Remus. "Snape wouldn't have planned all that! I agree with the first part though, he _did_ want to cause someone problems, and since he hates us because we make fun of him all the time, he set about the more vulnerable of us."

"Remus's right," Lily added. "You're a paranoiac. Snape isn't clever enough to plan it all."

But Sirius shook his head, "I think you're underestimating him. Haven't you heard what's said about him? He knows dark magic, and his father's rather close to Voldemort, for the ideas and all. He's a slimy git, but he's not stupid."

Lily shrugged; James thought about the snatch of conversation he'd heard between his mum and Nigel, the barman of the Leaky Cauldron, on the day he went to buy his school things.

_"Snape? They're quite close to He-Must-Not-Be-Named, aren't they? I'm suspicious of those people, you can never know …"_

"You mustn't always take "what's said" as face value," remarked Remus with a frown. "Even if Snape _is_ a slimy git – and I totally agree with you here – it doesn't necessarily mean that he's a Dark wizard, does it?"

"I won't let him go so easily anyway," Sirius said in a low voice. "Peter had himself humiliated by Walsh because of _Snape_, nothing would've happened if he hadn't thrown that I dunno what in Peter's cauldron."

"Calm down, Sirius," James cut in. "What're you intending to do to him?"

"Nothing mean, only teach him a little lesson."

"And are we allowed to know _how_ you're planning to do that?"

Sirius gave his wolf-like grin that unveiled his eye-teeth, "_Seriously_, Jamsie."

* * *

"There," Sirius said, pointing a page of _Three Thousand, Two Hundreds and One Tricks of all Kinds_, "that's what we need."

"A Glass-Wall Charm?"

They had climbed up to the boys' dormitory and had taken the precious book out of its hiding place at the bottom of James' cupboard; Lily had followed them – she sighed at the sight of the shambles of clothes and books reigning around Sirius's bed. Sirius followed her gaze; he went very pink, caught up swiftly something she couldn't see and stuffed it under his blanket. 

"That's it, a Glass-Wall,' he said when he came back to his friends. "Lily, you're the Charm specialist, could you think of a little spell that'd change the letters of something written – let's say on a wooden sheet?"

"Er …"

Lily frowned at the ceiling whenever she was thinking hard.

"Hand me your _Standard Book of Spells_, I'm sure I've already seen that somewhere."

She leafed through the book for a while, then her face lightened up all of a sudden, 'Ah, there's the Write-Over Spell – it's used to put other words that what's usually written. First we'll erase, then we'll just have to trace letters with our wand on the wanted place. And we'll just have to say the formula written here to cancel the effects."

"Whoa, Lil", Jamsie was quite right," Sirius said solemnly. "You _are_ a genius."

Lily couldn't help but smile. Then James asked impatiently, "Ok, now when are you planning to tell us what you're cooking, Sirius?"

"Right, Jamsie. Here's what I suggest …"

And Sirius put forward his plan … At the end, the three others were gaping. It seemed so crazy, so impossible, so many things could go wrong … There was a little pause, then James gave a broad grin, "Sirius, I'm a hundred per cent with you, pal. You're a complete nutter, it has all the chances to fall though, but I'm ready to give it a try. Remus?"

"Of course you can count me in," said Remus in a low voice, with that special grin of his dawning on his lips.

"What about you, Lil'?"

Lily kept silent for a second, then sighed, "Guys like you are a danger for the public welfare. But I accept."

James and Sirius high-fived.

"Beware, Severus Snape – the Fiendish Foursome's after you now!"

* * *

Early enough in the morning after, the three boys met Lily in the common room to settle a few practical details, then they went down to breakfast with their fellow Gryffindors.

"Got any news about Peter?" asked Fergus Finnigan to James who was sitting in front of him. "When does he get out?"

"Later in the morning," James answered.

"Poor thing," said Lisa Dodger. "Walsh was really mean to him yesterday. Besides he had nothing to do with it, for once –"

"Who told you that?" Fleur Delaney asked, brushing back her sleek brown hair. 

"Martin told me he saw Snape stand up and do something weird with his wand. He couldn't tell what."

"I hate that Snape guy, with his despising air, his crooked nose and greasy hair," chirped little Zoey Zig. "Always looks as if nothing was good enough for him."

"So does Malfoy," said Tim Thomas. "According to him, if you're not pure-blooded you're not a true witch or wizard. Barking mad."

Lisa Dodger shivered very slightly, "He gives me the creeps. He's so cold, he looks like a vampire or a snake."

"Why d'you think the Hat sorted him to Slytherin?" Sirius grinned. "They've got quite some zoo in there anyway. Malfoy's as cold as a snake, Penny Mordacian's got a bull's neck and Snape looks like a toad, doesn't he? A slimy, slobbering big black toad –"

"Yuck! Cut it off, Sirius!"

A handful of students didn't especially like toads, which I agree was sort of odd for wizards, but nobody's perfect after all.

Their first class after breakfast was Charms, on the ground floor. To the students' great joy, it was time for them to start making objects fly – they began with feathers. Lily had her feather fly up to the ceiling; James's and Sirius's rose from a foot or so, and Remus managed to have his fly by dint of concentration, but everybody wasn't so lucky: Tim Thomas kept cursing, but his feather didn't move at all. Lisa Dodger was driving him crazy with her advice and recommendations, "Come on, Tim, you know it's Win-_gar_-dium Levi-_o_-sa – you should be used to it by now! Do me a favour, hand your wand properly, you look as if you were holding a club –"

"Lisa, _do_ shut up!" he eventually cried. "Mind your own feather! If you give me another order, just _one_, I ask Flitwick to pair me with someone else!"

Lisa glared at him, but kept silent for the rest of the lesson. Tim pretended not to notice Fergus Finnigan and Martin Riley sitting a few seats from him, shaking with laughter.

When the bell rang, the four plotters exchanged a few words to make sure everything was ready; as planned, they met the Slytherins, on their way to the greenhouses. When the Slytherins reached a fixed point of the corridor, James met Sirius's, Remus's and Lily's gaze, as if to say "it's time!" and muttered a few words, discreetly pointing his wand toward Severus Snape. Rosier, Wilkes and Avery, who were chatting with him, could see him change colour all of a sudden, and rush to push open a door nearby. At first sight, they thought the wooden sheet above it indicated 'Boys' Toilet', but as they came closer they could clearly read 'Girls' Toilet'.

"What the heck is he doing?" Wilkes whispered, baffled.

"He's off his rocker, what's going on with him?" Rosier muttered, puzzled.

Lily and James were already starting to laugh silently, but Remus put a hand on Lily's arm as he said, "Wait a minute – you know it's not over, don't you?"

Indeed, from inside the toilet – whose door Lily had locked up _from inside_, with a discreet wave of her wand – they could hear a muffled though animated chatting, long, loud sobs and then a shriek which sounded almost desperate – 

"GET ME OUTTA HERE!!"

It was Severus Snape. His usually low voice was much higher this time. Most of the students – but the Slytherins, of course – were already shaking with laughter. James, Lily, Sirius and Remus found very difficult suppressing their own fits of laughter.

Noticing Professor McGonagall who was as usual striding down the corridor, Remus walked to her and said, "Er, Professor? It seems that Severus has some little problems …"

"Some problems?" McGonagall frowned. She came closer and called out, "Snape! Is that you? Can I know what you're doing in a girls' bathroom?"

"I'm locked in!" Snape's voice screamed through the door. "Let me out, don't leave me with her!"

"Who's he talking about?" Fergus Finnigan murmured in Lily's ear. She turned round, grinning, "There's Moaning Myrtle haunting this toilet, she's a ghost girl who'd seriously need a shrink. She's crying all the time, she even managed to bore _me_ to death."

"What – exactly what is going on in there?" McGonagall whispered, the expression on her face apparently balancing between anger and puzzlement. "The door's locked up from inside …"

"May I, Professor?" James said as he stepped closer, suppressing a broad grin. "There's something we can do to know what's happening inside."

He took his wand, and, before his professor's slightly astonished eyes, looked at his friends; the four of them raised their wands and said all together, "_Invisibilis Muris!_"

The wall of the toilet seemed to tremble slightly, like the wind blowing in a sheet of parchment; then, slowly, the partition in front of them began to erase itself, as if by a rubber. Everybody could now see clearly Snape, with his back against the door, staring with a horrified look on his face at the ghost who was floating before him, sobbing – a girl, with a very old-fashioned hairstyle, and an extremely dull face, half hidden by her long hair and thick glasses. She was crying loudly, repeating, "Why then have you come in my place if not to bully me? Everybody comes here to bully me! You're just as mean as the others! I'm going to tell everybody you hang about on the quiet in the girls' toilets!"

This time, the little crowd of students were roaring with laughter. There weren't only Gryffindors laughing: Lily could see Rachel Riley-Smith, a Ravenclaw student, next to Dave Gudgeon and Helena Alcott, two Hufflepuff first-years who shared Herbology classes with the Gryffindors. Everyone was laughing their head off – Fergus was banging on the wall with his fists. Sirius was leaning on James in order not to purely and simply fall, and James was leaning on Sirius for the same reason. Even Remus had dropped his ironic and serious mask; he was splitting his sides, and he even had what looked strongly like tears of laughter in his eyes. 

"Er – could someone explain to me what's going on?" asked a shy-sounding little voice behind Lily. It was Peter, who looked much better than the day before; he'd just turned up and stood there with a puzzled expression on his round face.

"Hey there, good timing, Peter," Sirius said in a cheerful voice, friendly clapping him on the shoulder. "Seems that Slimy Sevie made a lil' mistake and locked himself in there with Moaning Myrtle."

"Have you – have you locked Snape in the toilet?" Peter breathed, flabbergasted. 

"Who, us? No … we only – let's say, erm – encouraged him to go in there!"

"To _run_ in there, to speak more truthfully," James corrected with a sardonic smile.

"And then we, er – saw to it that he couldn't get out," Remus finished on the same tone.

"But _how_ did you manage that?"

"_'With a little help from my friends'_," Sirius crooned. "We've done the whole thing together. And you know what, guys?"

"Nope, what?"

Sirius glanced at McGonagall who'd had the wall back and opened the door, then at Snape running out as fast as he could, "It was _huge_."

And the four friends started to laugh on, and on, and on, as though they would never stop, while McGonagall took Snape by the ear as she growl, "I've never seen such a thing. You go lock yourself in the bathroom – the _girls' bathroom!_ – you bolt the door from _inside_, you make Moaning Myrtle cry, and you beg everybody to help you out? We're going to explain ourselves with the Headmaster, mister Snape! Never, I _never_ …"

When they walked away, the crowd of students started to scattering gradually; most of them were still laughing, some were telling what had happened to others who hadn't been lucky enough to see the scene. Wilkes, Avery and Rosier, were mortified and red with shame, hugging the walls.

"You're right, Sirius," Lily hiccuped, trying to catch her breath again. "It _was_ huge."

Remus was already serious again, "There's still something that bothers me."

"What, Rem'?' James asked as he wiped his eyes, trying to become serious again, too.

"The way we did that. We used the same arms as Snape – we acted just as sly and cunning as he would have acted. And now he's the victim of an injustice because of us, just like Peter was because of him."

"C'mon, Remus," Sirius said on a light tone, "we beat him, didn't we? Now he'll think twice before setting about one of us! Only _that_ counts, doesn't it?"

Remus frowned slightly, "Yeah, it counts, but it's not like we attacked him head-on, cleanly … What we did wasn't really fair. Remember the Sorting Hat's song?_ 'Then now if you're sly and cunning / Crafty and craving for success / Well you'll dwell in Slytherin / Where ambitious are welcome best'_ … We did not play fair."

James frowned too, while Lily stared at Remus and Sirius gave an annoyed sigh, "You and your blasted sense of fairness – honestly. When you're in war," he added seriously, looking at Remus straight in the eye, "you're a goner if you don't use the same arms as your enemy."

"Sirius, I think you're taking all this to heart too much," Remus said softly. "We are _not_ in war, after all."

There was a little silence, a bit tense, which was cut by James's voice, "I'm not that sure."

Sirius and Remus glanced at him curiously, and so did Lily and Peter. James nodded discreetly to the left; they followed his gaze, and Peter shivered slightly.

Flanked by his two bodyguards Crabbe and Goyle, Lucius Malfoy was staring at him, his icy eyes shining with pure hatred.

* * *

Malfoy's appearance and the expression on his face gave the little group of friends much to think about. They all knew that Malfoy, although not despising Snape as much as the Muggle-born, considered him as small fry. Even if Severus Snape – according to what was said about him, for the gossips and corridor whispers were probably ways of information of prime importance, whatever Remus said – knew Dark Magic indeed, Malfoy was head and shoulders above him in that matter; moreover, Malfoy had a tendency to scorn deeply his pairs, and Snape and his little gang of Slytherins were no exception. 

However, what Malfoy mostly cared for could be limited to three things: the reputation of what he called 'true wizards', Slytherin's reputation, and his own. Even if Snape was, according to him, his inferior, he _did_ belong in Slytherin, and they had to stick together against the others. When a Slytherin was disgraced, the whole house was concerned. That was why he looked so furious about what had happened to his first-year school-fellow. 

That was what the four friends had deduced from the little 'bathroom incident' and Malfoy's expression. Until then, they had always chosen Snape as their favourite target, but without forgetting to remember themselves to the other Slytherin first-years, but they left the older ones alone. Vega, as well as Arnold Weasley and Frank Longbottom, two Gryffindor third-years who liked the 'fiendish foursome', had warned them – some of the Slytherins were _no_ angels, and could revealed themselves really dangerous if you asked them to. Lucius Malfoy was among them, although he was only in his second year.

Malfoy, however, didn't come make himself more known than usual during the following week. The five friends could keep watching him carefully and even following him from a distance, he remained as normal as possible. Sirius even suggested spying on the owls, in case of their enemy receiving instructions from his father – "or directly from Voldemort, who knows?" – to dispose of them. He said that first in Transfiguration class, and they had to whisper in order not to be heard by McGonagall.

"You watch TV _way_ too much, Sirius," Lily sighed, rolling her eyes. Remus chuckled softly. Sirius shrugged with a smile of his.

"Watch what?" James asked, interested.

"Something more interesting to add to what I've just said, Potter?" said McGonagall, walking past him. James granted her his most innocent smile, "Nothing more interesting than turning a pen into a feather, Professor."

McGonagall stared at him with her piercing eyes; James didn't flinch, and she finally went on with the lesson.

"You're wrong, Jamsie," Sirius whispered when she was far enough. "TV's much more interesting than turning a pen into a feather."

James shrugged. A few seconds later, between two incredible theories, Remus managed to tell them he'd be absent on the next Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning. 

"Again?" Peter whispered. "Weren't you gone last month too? What's happening?"

"It's my mum, she relapsed. She owled me this morning."

"It's not too serious, is it?" James asked in a low voice, vaguely worried.

"It doesn't seem so, but it could become."

"Why doesn't your dad take care of her?" said Peter. Remus didn't answered that at once, and Peter regretted immediately his question, although his friend's face didn't betray any particular emotion.

"My dad doesn't live with us," Remus said after one or two seconds. Sirius nodded, with in his clear eyes a sort of soft expression a bit unusual with him, and Peter dived again into his Transfiguration book, aware somehow that he had made a mistake but not knowing how to excuse himself. The conversation ended there.

However Remus couldn't avoid some questions when he came back from home Wednesday around midday – he looked worse than ever. His eyes were underlined with shadows darker than usual, and he seemed somewhat weaker.

"Explain that one to me, Rem', will you?" James said on a concerned tone. "How comes each time your mum's sick, you come back looking as if you'd caught something worse?"

"D'you know where I live?" Remus replied without losing countenance. "Few miles from here, near the Scottish frontier. It's already awfully cold around here, in case you didn't notice."

"That's true," said Lily. "I bet it'll be snowing soon."

"Thanks, Lily. I caught a bad cold back there. So I went to see Madam Pomfrey earlier today, but what she gave me stunned me a bit. That's why I look a bit off-colour."

"You don't _look_ off-colour, you _are_," Sirius remarked as he peered at his friend. "I wonder what she gave you that put you in such a state."

"I'd rather not to catch a cold," Peter added in his small voice, "I don't want to look like a zombie just digging out from his grave."

"Why, thanks Peter," said Remus in a would-be sarcastic sort of voice, sounding much lower than usual. "I'd never heard that one yet."

"You can have a break in History of Magic," said Lily. "I'll take notes alone if you want."

History of Magic was so boring that Lily and Remus had suggested that they'd listen to the lesson carefully and copy it down, in order to help their friends to make up for the time they lose while gazing at the window or scribbling in their _History of Magic_. But Remus shook his head, "No, being two is better, so we can compare our notes."

"History of Magic could kill anyone healthy, and you're not," Sirius said on a grave tone. 'I wouldn't take the risk if I were you –"

"Shut up, Sirius.'

That day's lesson was about regulation length of the magic wands in the Twelfth Century – maybe the dullest subject of all, but who knows, with Binns? Most of the students were already half asleep, and Remus was much quieter than usual during the lesson. Lily couldn't help but steal a few worried glances at him; then, seeing that he was copying down at the same rate as she was, she put her mind at ease and concentrated on her own piece of parchment.

"Thus in 1146, the Silver Wand Camp was set up, so the Chief of the Wizards' Council of Great Britain could meet his Spanish and French counterparts, that is the Prince Sorcier Bracon and the Gran Hidalgo de Magìa Paco El Del Molino, to discuss the length of the European magic wands. They eventually came to the conclusion that the length of a witch's or a wizard's magic wand should be proportional to the height of the said witch or wizard …"

"I've got an evil idea for a prank to Snape," Sirius yawned while scribbling on his piece of parchment. "We could lock him in History of Magic classroom with Binns. That guy's worst than all we could ever do to Slimy Sevie."

"I agree," James said in a drawling sort of voice. "I wonder how one can live through it for seven years if only one hour's enough to stun anyone – hangman?"

"Yep. You begin. Go, pick a word."

"OK. Er … Ah!"

James took up the piece of parchment he used as a blotter and traced eleven little lines. Sirius frowned, 'Gee, wait, your word's long. Er … 'o'."

"Right. That makes _ _ o _ _ _ _ _ o _ _ ."

"Weird thing again, is it? It's not fair, Jamsie. There's loads of incredible magical creepy crawlies you know and I don't."

"You should read your _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ a bit more often. Besides, how many times did _you_ put some impossible word? Speaking of that, your last one was _weird_ … I'm sure that 'pentahedron' doesn't even exist. You made it up."

"I didn't. If you think I make up, you're lucky not to play Scrabble with my sister – she's got such some weird words you'd think she's got her own dictionary in her head. 'e'."

" 'e', it makes … _ _ o _ _ e _ _ o _ _ . So what does "pentahedron" mean, according to you?"

"Dunno, Vega said this once in a Scrabble game. I haven't the faintest idea of what it means. But it's hard to find, is it?"

"I bet it is."

"What're you playing at?" said Peter's voice near Sirius.

"Hangman. It's Sirius's turn to guess."

"Er … 'a'," ventured the latter.

"Missed!" James began to draw the gallows with an ironic smile on his lips.

"Have you tried the 'i'?" asked Fergus Finnigan in a low voice.

"Nope. Jamsie?"

"Missed again! I love this game."

"You're a sadistic, James,' said Lily with a grin, looking up from her notes. "Try the 'h', Sirius."

"Why 'h'?"

"Dunno." Lily shrugged.

"Oh well, 'h'."

"You're gonna get hanged, Sirius!" said James, sounding delighted.

"Blimey, again?"

Along with James, Sirius, Peter and occasionally Lily, Fergus Finnigan and Martin Riley had thrown themselves in the fight too. History of Magic would have become interesting only for that hangman games.

"So then," Sirius eventually said, looking at the piece of parchment over James's shoulder, "we've got _ l o _ _ e r _ o r m. Any idea, someone?"

There was a short silence, each one thinking hard. Then – 

"Flobberworm," Peter said in a small voice. Sirius raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"Yeah, 'flobberworm': f. l. o. b. b. e. r. w. o. r. m. Is that correct, James?"

"You've won, Peter," James said cheerfully. "You're correct. One point to Gryffindor, Pettigrew,' he added, imitating McGonagall's voice.

"If only I was as good in Transfiguration or in Potions," Peter muttered with a little melancholic pout that made Sirius laugh softly.

"C'mon, Peter," he said reassuringly, breaking up with his sarcastic self for once, "one of these days we'll organise a hangman's competition. And you'll win that one hands down."

"You'll have some good ones to compete with," remarked James. "Remus's rather good at hangman too. Next time _you_ pick a word, right Rem'?"

James got no answer. Puzzled, he turned to his friend, "Remus? What –"

Far from his usually keen attitude in class, Remus was sound asleep, with his head buried in his arms. His light-brown hair was falling in his eyes more than ever, and he was even snoring very slightly. James chuckled softly, and Lily turned round to him, "Is he really sleeping?"

"I think so," James whispered. "Funny thing, isn't it? He must be the latest I thought I'd see sleep in class for good … should we wake him up?"

After a few seconds' thinking, Lily slightly shook her head, smiling, "No, let him rest. He looks exhausted, and he's so cute when he's sleeping …"

Sirius watched the scene with a chuckle. Peter looked concerned, "What if Binns sees he's sleeping?"

"We've been playing hangman in his class for two months," James retorted reasonably, "and Mundungus told me that he had a kip one hour out of three in History of Magic. So for once …"

Peter didn't insist; James, Sirius and him went on playing hangman. The hour passed slowly. About ten minutes before the end of class, Lily was still copying down and yawning; she would glance briefly, almost enviously at Remus who was still sound asleep. He was starting to stir though; Lily thought he was probably about to wake up, but instead of opening his eyes and sit up, he gave a jump, slipped suddenly off his seat and collapsed on the ground. Lily dropped her quill and leaned over him, while James jumped and Peter stared wide-eyed. Binns turned about rather swiftly for a years-long dead professor, and most of the students half stood up from their seats in order to have a better look.

"What's happening? Remus, what's wrong?"

But Remus was already getting up, grasping the edge of the table with a slightly shaking hand. For a moment, Lily, who was sitting next to him, thought she'd noticed a sort of completely lost expression in the wide-open blue grey eyes; but the feeling was fleeting, and disappeared quickly. 

"What's wrong with you, Lucky?" Binns stammered, baffled by a bustle he wasn't used to. James noticed that he didn't even remember the correct name of one of his keenest students.

"I – I'm sorry, Professor, I must've slipped off somehow," Remus breathed as he regained his seat with some difficulty, embarrassed at so many eyes staring at him, as well as of the chuckles running through the rows. Binns peered at him, frowning, then turned to the blackboard again. James and Sirius didn't turned their eyes away from their friend.

"Remus, are you all right?" Lily asked gently, almost cautiously. 

"Don't worry, Lily, I'm fine," he answered only, taking his quill again. "I must've had a nightmare, that's all."

James whispered in turn, "Hey, it's quite normal falling asleep in History of Magic. You've nothing to reproach yourself with."

Remus just shrugged. Sirius looked concerned. 

"Are you sure that –"

"Look, I'm fine, OK?" Remus said in a loud, rather curt voice. Then, seeing Sirius's almost hurt expression, he corrected on a softer tone, "I'm sorry, Sirius, I didn't mean to snap at you. That's just – I _mustn't_ fall asleep. I know, it's not a matter of life and death, but I hate letting go off my guards like that. Now please, I'd like to catch Lily up, or she'll think I'm just a lazy thing."

Sirius nodded, and seemed to have forgotten it. But when he met James's gaze, the latter could see that, like himself, Sirius had some doubts about their friend's latest remark – both knew that it was a lie, Lily would have never thought Remus was a "lazy thing". James only little paid little attention to the rest of the lesson; something bothered him in the story Remus had told them, which almost sounded like an excuse anyway. He told them he lived near the Scottish frontier, so near Hogwarts since the college was situated in Scotland; and it held together with his very slight North-England accent. But in this case, how could he have been sick in the train back to Hogwarts the previous month? Even with many bends, the trip couldn't have been _that_ long … 

The day after, after a good night's sleep, Remus was almost back to his normal self, but it didn't stop James from wondering.

*~*~*~*


	6. A Hogwarts Hallowe'en

Author's note: To Rehanna (Magicismyname) in particular: my dear, I've read on JK's page about Elizabeth … the three of you were The MoPs on Ezboard at the Registry, right? I'm so sorry, really. I know it's not much, but I send my kindest and dearest thoughts of sympathy to you and Delia – this chapter is for you, and Delia, and Elizabeth's memory.

Much of love to everybody,

*~* Belphegor *~*

****

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

__

Chapter 6: A Hogwarts Hallowe'en

Without knowing why, James didn't quite believe Remus's story. It was not a matter of trust – Remus was his friend, and he trusted him – but rather like something that kept running through his head and wouldn't go away. A small voice at the back of his mind, saying "he's lying" without James being able to prove neither that Remus was lying, nor the contrary.

He knew by experience that Remus was a good liar – maybe one of the best – and that was what bothered him so much: where did truth end in his friend, and lie begin? Remus didn't _invent_ stories when he told excuses to a teacher – he used the truth and embroidered it. What if he "embroidered" as well when he told his friends why he went back home and came back to Hogwarts looking like hell? Besides, his mum hadn't looked so ill when James saw her on that day, back at Diagon Alley. On the contrary, she did seem quite well. How came that three weeks later she felt so ill she asked for her son? And for such a short time? Why was she suddenly so ill three weeks later that she asked for her son, and then only for such a short time?

James didn't speak to anybody about his doubts. He had an idea as to the answers he'd get. Sirius would shrug and call him paranoid; Lily would smile it away, say that he worried for nothing and that Remus had no reason to lie to him; and Peter would simply stare round-eyed. As for facing Remus and asking him head-on, James didn't even envisage it. He had nothing to lean on, no proof at all, no hint, absolutely nothing; he didn't quite feel like going to him and asking, "What's up with you?" just like that.

"Wait and see," he just told himself. "Just wait and see."

The only person he was tempted to talk to was Vega – she was fifteen after all, and she might take his concern a bit more seriously than Lily, Sirius, or Peter. But Vega seemed very busy these days, and not in the mood to listening an eleven-year-old boy's rants – that was the idea James had. Sirius said it was because of the O.W.Ls, the Ordinary Wizarding Levels that every student had to pass at the end of the fifth year at Hogwarts; on the other hand, he added with a frown that his sister behaved oddly since she'd been made a Prefect. She would jump on each occasion to isolate herself, and sometimes Sirius himself – he worked hard on not looking too involved in his sister's business and life at school, but he couldn't help watching from a distance – hadn't the faintest idea where his sister was. She would reappear a few minutes later though, smiling but looking as serious as ever. Sirius teased her a lot about it, remarking notably that this wasn't quite suitable a behaviour for a Prefect. She would shrug and walk away with a Potions essay as an excuse. And James would laugh under his breath as Sirius shrugged in the very same way, and then immediately ask James about an idea for bewitching a book. All was forgotten by the next minute. Apparently.

Very early on the Hallowe'en morning, James woke up feeling a cold draft – he had forgotten to shut the curtains of his four-poster. He half sat up as he reached the red velvet, but something stopped him: through the blurred mist caused both by the sleep still half sticking his eyes shut and the lack of glasses on his nose, he made out the outline of a figure standing against the clear form of the open window. Puzzled, he took his glasses from his bed-table, sat up and looked more closely. When he realised who was the figure perched on the windowsill, he jumped out of his bed.

Sirius was sitting on the windowsill, with one leg on the ledge and the other hanging out. James saw only his motionless back and shoulders; he was wearing his warm black winter cloak that he hadn't taken out until then.

James came closer as discreetly as he could, feeling vaguely worried; the floor was cold under his silent bare feet. He must have made a floorboard creak though, because Sirius turned his eyes to him. To James's odd relief, he was smiling – but a strange smile, mixed with a piece of sadness.

"It's been snowing, James," he said quietly, although with his voice a bit hoarse.

James came to the window as Sirius sat slightly aside to let him enjoy the view. The window was rather narrow, and Sirius just had room enough to sit, but James could take in the scenery at a glance all the same: the piece of the lake he could see was frozen at its edges, and all the grounds were covered with bright snow, almost blue in the dim dawn light. Further, the Whomping Willow seemed asleep with its branches heavy with snow, looking almost benign for once. Near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, James could make out Hagrid with Curly on his heels dig his way in the thick mass of new snow. He supposed that the gamekeeper must be checking over the snares, or defrosting the school's brooms for today's flying lessons. Further again, the trees of the Forbidden Forest looked harmless, having lost their usual menacing dark green colour, replaced by both a light and dark sort of blue. Finally, on the horizon, the sun was just starting to rise on the mountains; he could see the cold light between gold and yellow slipping slowly forward along the dark slopes.

"It's – it's beautiful," James said eventually, his eyes shining. "You can see it all from here. I would've never thought that the landscape was so nice, it's so misty all the time."

There was a little pause, then Sirius said in barely more than a whisper, "You know, my mum loved snow. Each year at the first fall we would get up before dawn and wait for the first flake."

James listened in silence, though he was surprised at first. Sirius had never talked about his mother before.

"She caught it first all the time, she had a gift for spotting the first snowflake, the place and the second it'd fall. Then my dad would phone the school to know whether it was snowed in – generally, it was – and we would spend the whole day playing in the snow, Vega and me. Ma would bewitch the sleds so they wouldn't overturn, and I would grouse because I loved when mine and Vega's overturned."

Apart from Sirius's almost-whisper, the small room was completely silent. James said nothing, didn't make a single move to interrupt him, even if he didn't have the faintest idea what "phone" meant. He felt that a moment like this one was rare, and he wouldn't have broken the spell for all the world. He could only see Sirius's profile; his friend's face was peaceful, almost dreamy, but his slight smile was not quite steady.

"But the best thing in that first-snow days was the night, I guess. We'd go back home completely fagged out by dint of playing, and Da would give us a big bowl of hot milk with honey, then we'd sit down next to the fire – that fireplace was so small I still wonder how the heck it could make us that warm – and our parents would tell us stories 'til we drifted off. Vega always fell asleep before me – I did my best not to for a while. I wanted to stay awake, because I knew that Ma would stay beside my bed till I slept for good. Besides, I could hear the end of the story."

Sirius lowered his head a little; was he crying? He wasn't: James saw him raise his eyes at once and peer at him intently, "Dunno why I'm telling you all that. But keep it to yourself, please. You're the only one I could think of talking to about – about _before_."

James just nodded, rather touched by that proof of his trust. Then Sirius grinned – his usual grin, warm and sarcastic, "Well, we're perishing here. Want my place to have a better look?"

"Thanks," James said, smiling in turn, "it's nice, but I prefer to watch from inside. It's a great deal warmer."

"Whatever."

Sirius leaped lightly from the ledge; he raised his head and wrinkled his nose, "What's that smell? I can smell it since I'm awake."

"Roasting pumpkin. The house-elves must start baking it early, I think."

It was easy to guess from Sirius's face that he didn't have quite a great liking toward roasted pumpkin. James began to laugh, "C'mon, don't look at me like this, I swear it's delicious! Have you never tasted it?"

"Oh yes, I have, to my great displeasure," Sirius grumbled. "Vega's got a passion for roasted pumpkin. The thing is, each time she tries to bake it she fails. So she ends up with some weird, burnt down, blackish little pieces, and the kitchen remains unusable for half a day because of the smell. Boy, that's something."

James had to bite on his lip in order not to laugh again – he didn't want to wake the two others up – but his dark green eyes were laughing for him. Sirius gave a chuckle, then he said, sounding serious again, "Sorry for boring you with those stories of mine. But I needed it – I won't do it again, promise."

James opened his mouth to protest, to say that he didn't have to be sorry at all and that himself wasn't bored at all either, but he was cut off by a grunt from Peter's bed, followed by a rustle, probably meaning he'd just turned over. The curtains drew aside and Peter popped out a dishevelled head and sleepy eyes.

"Hey, Peter!" Sirius said lightly. "You know what? It's been snowing."

The sleepy eyes snapped wide open, " 'That true?"

"Of course that's true," James said. "We must've had about twenty inches fall last night!"

His eyes shining with childlike joy, Peter jumped up and almost ran to the window, tripping on his half-slipped socks. 

"Wow! It's spiffing," he said enthusiastically. "Remus was right. He's said it was going to snow I don't know when."

"What have I said?" a muffled voice asked. It was closely followed by a, "Oh, doesn't it smell like baking pumpkin – happy Hallowe'en!"

"Yeah, that's true, happy Hallowe'en everyone! We must celebrate this. What would you say about a lil' prank on Snape?"

"Sirius!"

"You're right, 's not very original. So – something with the Whomping Willow? Tim was boastful the other day about engraving his initials, but I don't believe him. What about going and engrave "Gryffindor rules"? So we could see if Tim's telling the truth."

"I'd agree a bit more here," James said. 'It'd be original. But not before breakfast – I don't know about you, but I am starving."

"I think it's no use for a vote on a show of hands," Remus said with a smile, seeing Peter's hopeful expression as the word "breakfast" was mentioned …

Roasted pumpkin, to Sirius's great surprise, _was_ delicious, and he had no bones about a few well-chosen comments to his sister. Vega looked vexed, but didn't reply and concentrated on her own piece of pumpkin. She gave a small jump when Mundungus Fletcher, sitting a few chairs from her, said as he pointed toward the Ravenclaw table, "Oy, I know that owl! It's one of the school's, I've used it last week to send a card to a cousin of mine – these owls are supposed to _send_ messages, not to bring them!"

"Who's the lucky guy?" asked interestedly Olivia O'Flaherty, a fifth-year girl sitting in front of Vega. 

Arnold Weasley gave a chuckle and said, "That's Jack Prewett, seventh-year Head Boy. He's one of the few I know who's both serious and good-natured. Plus he plays Seeker in the Ravenclaw Quidditch team."

"That boy's a dream." Olivia beamed. "Is he seeing someone in the moment?"

"You have to ask him, not me.'

Arnold's eyes were twinkling. Olivia sighed to Vega, "With a luck like mine, I'm sure he's got someone. I wonder who sent him that letter though. He looks glad about it, anyway."

Vega shrugged with a smile, "You can always try your luck, you know."

Then she turned to her friend Dan to tell him something.

"Funny, isn't it?" Sirius breathed to James. "Usually she would talk endlessly and now she's content with two words. _Weird_, my sis is. Say, about the Willow – still on?"

"Yeah, why not. How're you planning to do this anyway?" Remus said as he put down his cup of tea and took the marmalade. 

"I've got a penknife, from when I was at school."

"What's the use to it?" James asked, puzzled. 

Sirius said with a sheepish sort of smile, 'None, apart from engraving my initials at the bottom of the school's surrounding wall. To 'leave a mark'," he added, pretending to ignore Lisa Dodger rolling her eyes and Vega sighing between two pieces of roasted pumpkin. 

"Afraid of 'being forgotten'?" Remus said, smiling. James glanced rapidly at Sirius. 

Sirius shrugged, "Me? Nah, that was just for a lark."

Then he added with a sardonic smile, "Besides, I do think they won't forget me for a while, in this school."

Some began to laugh. Sirius, at that moment, looked particularly devilish with the usual wolfish grin on his face.

Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson was boring as it ordinarily was; Professor Ricochet spoke to them in his nasal, hushed voice about the cursed gems used by Dark Wizard Maximilian Fersen to vanquish the armies of the King of Finland. James listened with only one ear, but Lily seemed really fascinated by the story, despite the way Ricochet had of telling it. It was stifling in the classroom, and everybody ran outside as soon as the bell rang, baffling Ricochet who absently bid everyone a happy Hallowe'en.

"According to you," James asked as he shut his bag he'd just slipped hurriedly under his arm, "who's the most dangerous for our sanity, Binns or Ricochet?"

"My vote is on Binns," said Sirius, who apparently hadn't swallowed the time Remus had half-fallen asleep, half-fainted in Binns' class, even if he hadn't let out a word more about it. "At least we aren't quite so sleepy in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Plus we learn useful stuff – well, we're supposed to."

"I agree with Sirius," Remus said as James threw his bag over his shoulder. 'Defence _will_ reveal itself useful some day. However, the way Ricochet teaches it –"

"Pinch me," Lily teased him. "Remus Lupin, criticising a teacher? That's one for the Record Book. Are you okay?"

"I am quite fine, thanks," Remus said with a smile, ignoring Sirius's sneeze, strangely sounding like a disguised 'Liar!'

"Bless you, Sirius," Remus slipped with a lopsided look to his friend, who now had an air of sheer innocence on his face. "I just think it's a pity that we don't get a chance to _practise_," he went on. "I'd love to learn how to get rid of a Jarvey or a Grindylow, or to learn handy counter-curses, that sort of things."

He meant what he was saying; the four others nodded approvingly. 

"You have a point there," Peter chirped. "I almost was bitten by a Doxy once, when I was little. If it hadn't been for my mum …"

He shuddered. Lily cast him a sympathetic glance.

"Mind you," she said earnestly, "_this_ lesson was interesting – plus I love all that's linked to jewels, especially when they're cursed. You know, in the Muggle world, there are many diamonds that are said to be cursed. The Eagle's Eye is a well-known wizard's jewel, and for instance the Sancy or the Mirror of Portugal are –"

"Please, no!" Sirius cried as he covered his ears with his hands. "Don't you think we've had enough of this with Ricochet? You won't finish us up with another lesson about Evil-Eyed jewels, will you?"

Lily's vexed pout made James laugh.

As they stepped into the Great Hall for lunch, a few students let out admiring exclamations: the Hall was already decorated for Hallowe'en – orange and black, with real pumpkins Hagrid had grown with loving. He had carved them expertly, cutting out eyes and fangs. James made a mental note to congratulate Hagrid about this handsome piece of work. The Hogwarts ghosts floating a few meters from the floor and the live bats fluttering about across the Hall completed the tableau. Sirius quite enjoyed the way they had to settle themselves into the girls' hair. One of the bats seemed to particularly appreciate Fleur Delaney's long brown hair; she began shrieking, and everybody laughed at her way of violently jerking her head about, her beautiful sleek hair all tangled up and her fine and delicate-featured face turning very red.

After a minute's laugh, Charlie McKinnon eventually felt pity for her. He raised his wand, and the bat suddenly found itself stuck up to the ceiling. They could guess it had an astounded 'expression' on its little black face. Fleur didn't eat much during that lunch; she remained silent, giving a small sniff from time to time. She would remember her first Hallowe'en at Hogwarts.

Sirius disappeared just before the next lesson; but as he was back for the start-of-class bell, no one had the time to ask him the reason for his absence. Because of Hallowe'en, the students had so much trouble concentrating on their afternoon Charms lesson that Professor Flitwick finally organised a flying hats race. Peter spent a long time trying to make his hat take off, and when he finally made it, Lily had won hands down. James' and Sirius's had arrived at the same time, but it didn't stop them from quibbling for fifteen good minutes. Flitwick finally declared that they had tied for second place. Remus's hat had led a respectable race, and had ended fourth just before Lisa's hat, against whom he had fought a mercilessly duel. Lily couldn't help but notice how much the enthusiasm of the race had changed Remus: her friend's cheeks were now flushed crimson, his breath was quick and choked and his eyes shone like two moons. Lisa, more or less in the same state, acknowledged her defeat with good grace, and her eyes widened when Remus bowed courteously before her as he congratulated her for being such a formidable adversary. Although a bit uneasy, the brown-haired girl giggled. 

At seven o'clock, everybody headed toward the Great Hall, more impressive than ever in the pale lights of candles floating in mid-air like the first night, completed by the reddish light of candles placed into Hagrid's pumpkins, so big that a man could have sat crouched inside. The teachers were all sitting at the High Table, dressed in their finest robes. McGonagall was particularly notable that night, dressed all in red, her House's colour; as for Walsh, she looked as starchy as ever in a green robe vaguely reminiscent of the colour of the Forbidden Forest.

"We're gonna have a _slap-up_ meal," Sirius said as he rubbed his hands with a delighted look on his face. 

Indeed, dishes just as varied as those of the start-of-term banquet had just appeared on the same golden plates. James helped himself at once to lamb stew and chips, while Sirius and Remus were fighting over the potatoes. Lily settled the question by helping herself first. She hadn't quite forgotten Sirius's comment on her "lesson about Evil-Eyed jewels" which she loved to talk about. Besides, she _was_ hungry.

The resulting meal was animated, but friendly. Fleur had recovered from her fright a while ago, and now she was chatting about boys' natural idiocy with the Scott twins, Marietta and Marissa. The two black twin girls, both with the same round little nose and almond-shaped black eyes, were quite identical – apart from their hairstyles: one had her hair braided into two little coils on each side of her head, and the other's head was crowned with many dark little braids ended with as many various-coloured pearls. But as they both would constantly change their hairstyles, nobody could tell them apart with certainty. 

However, during the whole meal, Lily couldn't help but think that something wasn't right. She understood the reason of this funny feeling only when her eyes fell on a little punnet filled with mint humbugs: Mundungus Fletcher wasn't sitting in his usual chair, never very far from Vega. Intrigued, Lily looked around for him, but she couldn't find him; she tapped Remus's shoulder – he was sitting next to her.

"Where's Mundungus?"

Remus broke off his conversation with Fergus Finnigan and glanced around him, frowning.

"That's true, he's not here … how come –? All of us are supposed to be here for the Hallowe'en feast …"

He turned to Sirius and said, "Mundungus' not here."

"Fletcher?"

Sirius looked perplexed.

"I say, that's weird … Jamsie? Fletch's missing!"

James gave a smile, "Calm down, he's probably cooking up a little prank of his own invention – Hallowe'en remains Hallowe'en, after all."

"Yeah, and Fletcher remains Fletcher," Sirius ended. "You're probably right."

"I am."

Around them, older Gryffindors seemed to find this absence quite normal. When Sirius asked his sister about it, Vega put down her pumpkin juice glass and answered, "Mundungus comes up with a Hallowe'en prank each year. We never know what we'll end up with, it's always a surprise. Dan, Angie, what was it last year?"

Dan Hustler and Angie McAlmin were two friends of Vega's: Dan, short and squat, with red hair bordering on brown, was the threesome's daft one, while Angie, as tall as Vega, had lighter hair and was rather quiet. He answered in his usual calm voice, "He put a bewitched pumpkin under every single bed of every second-year – even the girls'."

"I remember," Olivia O'Flaherty said. "The pumpkins all jumped up from under the beds at the twelfth strike of midnight and leapt upon every second-year. We could hear the screams even from our dormitory."

Molly Ginger shuddered at the memory, but the others were rather exited about that genial idea. 

"Wonder what he's up to this year?"

"Me too!"

Lily, feeling reassured, ceased wondering and poured down more peppery sauce on her steak. When the main courses were all eaten up, the plates and dishes cleaned up by themselves and the desserts appeared instead. Sirius, James and Remus talked animatedly – probably about Mundungus – while Peter took off the paper enveloping a humbug.

"I went down to the Whomping Willow just now," said Tim Thomas, "and you know what? Someone's written 'Gryffindor – fun galore' on it."

"Whoever did this is crazy," Lisa Dodger said sternly. "And if he's still alive he's got a lot of luck."

"Yeah, but now Davey – you know Davey Gudgeon, that skinny kid from Hufflepuff, we've got Herbology classes with them. He's not quite happy about it. He'd swore he'd write his initials on the trunk first, to follow up their success in Quidditch."

"Success they deserve, by the way," admitted a fifth-year named Aymeric Peppery, a bit reluctantly though. "And yet it's not for lack of trying to beat them."

"Look Aymeric, I don't want to upset anyone, but it's true that _you_'re the only decent player in the team. _They_'ve got seven."

"Yeah, but," cut in Fergus Finnigan who loved Quidditch, "almost all our players are seventh-years now, aren't they?"

"Yes, Aymeric's the younger player. But he's still the best one."

Aymeric gave a smile, "Cut it out, please."

"By the way," said another Gryffindor, "did you hear that? That little Malfoy git has been promoted Seeker on the Slytherin team."

"Money can pull so many strings within sport, eh?"

Leaving the conversation now gliding about the more-than-doubtful honesty of the Slytherin team, Remus and James turned to Sirius, who was chewing indifferently on his piece of cake.

"Sirius, the Whomping Willow thing – it was you, wasn't it?" Remus breathed. Sirius, his mouth full, only nodded with a broad smile. James shook his head as he whispered delightfully, "Blimey, I'll have to work seriously on my side to catch up with you."

"Oh, never mind, Jam_ch_ie," Sirius chewed. "It'_ch_ no ra_ch_e, ya know. Be_ch_ides I prefer from far work wi_dj_ you than be a loner. It'_ch_ so much funnier."

And he gave a broad grin to James and Remus.

"Peter!" Lily cried suddenly. "Good Lord, what happened?"

"Please, just call me Sirius," said Sirius modestly. Lily seemed to be hesitating between rolling her eyes or bursting out laughing. Peter peeked around anxiously. His face was as green as the mint humbug he'd just eaten.

"What? What's up?"

"You look, well – a bit green – but it should be over in three minutes," James said, grinning. "Sorry, actually it wasn't intended for you."

"That's funny, you know," Sirius said to Remus. "If I remember well, you had more or less this colour on your face, back at the Sorting …"

"Shut up, Sirius," Remus said lightly as he took a piece of chocolate-flavoured cake.

* * *

But Mundungus remained stubbornly invisible. Several Gryffindors looked for him in vain until bed-time, which arrived quickly as always after a feast. With their stomachs full and their head cloudy, the students had only one thing on their minds: their warm and soft red four-poster. James, Sirius, Remus and Peter vaguely waved good-bye to Lily before climbing up to their dormitory. Sirius, looking less tired than the others, tried to throw his pillow at Remus; but Remus kept it for himself instead of throwing it back at its owner. The pillow war was nipped in the bud, and later the four boys had fallen sound asleep, without hearing the expected yells and screams that would have celebrated Hallowe'en in the best Mundungus Fletcher style.

On the morning after at the Gryffindor table, lots of students looked baffled – Hallowe'en had passed without any prank, and above all Mundungus Fletcher hadn't shown himself neither the night before nor that morning. Arnold Weasley, who slept in the same dormitory as Fletcher, was vaguely worried – he wasn't even at the hospital wing. Olivia O'Flaherty tried to reassure Arnold by telling him that it wasn't the first time Mundungus was nowhere to be seen. It was true indeed, so Arnold stopped worrying; he turned to another Gryffindor third-year to ask him something about some Potions essay.

"Mind you, while we're speaking about Mundungus," James said. "There's something I'd like to understand."

"Uh? What?" asked Remus as he glanced up from _Hogwarts, A History_ which Lily kindly had lent to him.

"How – just _how_ – does he manage to escape Adams _all the time_? I mean, I know he's alone, that's the advantage of a better discretion, but all the same –"

"That's true," Peter cut in. "I saw him once in a corridor, he was jinxing the door of the Trophy Room. Then I turned round at some point and I saw Adams sneaking in. And when I turned to Mundungus to warn him, he'd just … vanished. That's the word."

"Looks like it's become a habit of his," Sirius said in a sarcastic voice.

"But that's true!" exclaimed Peter, maybe thinking Sirius didn't believe him. "Maybe he's learnt how to Disapparate or something –"

"No, now you're wrong, Peter," Remus said, this time closing his book. "First you have to be seventeen to take your Apparating test, everybody knows that –"

"I didn't," Lily said on a vexed tone.

"Well, _almost_ everybody. Secondly – and I'm sure you know that too, Lily – it's impossible Apparating or Disapparating into the Hogwarts grounds. I've just read it in that book."

"Why is that?" Zoey Zig asked, interested.

"Because the castle's protected," Vega said on a very professorial tone, "by some Old Magic, very ancient and efficient. That's why Hogwarts is one of the safest places in Great-Britain – you've got nothing to fear from You-Know-Who here."

"Why won't you say Voldemort, Vega?" said Sirius, almost curtly. 

Vega shrugged, "Yeah, well … I don't think of it, that's all."

Sirius rolled his eyes in a very Vega-ish, funny sort of face, "_Honestly_, Vega, do you think it's serious not saying this twisted old loony's name? He must enjoy all the din that's made around him. The Dark Lord … You-Know-Who … He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, my foot! No kidding, I'm not surprised with his wanting to change his name with such a weird one …"

The slightly uneasy feeling that came over the table when Sirius had said Voldemort's name was lifted up partly; Peter looked incredulously at Sirius, "How come _you_ call him by his name?"

"Chain of events," Sirius said simply, in a tone of finality showing he wouldn't add a word on this subject. Remus looked thoughtful. 

Potions class went by rather uneventfully; Peter, since the bathroom incident, paid an earnest attention to his cauldron and ingredients, so nothing had exploded so far. Snape kept it down, no doubt chewing over a merciless vengeance – but what could he do, being one against five? For if he set about one of them, the four others would leap on him without any delay. And if Wilkes, Avery, Rosier, and Nott tagged along with him in every victory, they were much less enthusiastic when defeat was certain.

"It's no use getting head-on to them," he finally concluded as he gathered up the bits of bat's wings he hadn't used, "it's only making them stick together more. It'd be actually so much easier if they were _apart_ –"

A mean smile stirred his pale lips. He had a mere beginning of an idea – a devious one, Machiavellian even, but all's allowed when dealing with such adversaries, isn't it?

The only one who saw this smile was Peter; he shuddered and was about to tell James about it when the bell rang the end of class. The students – the Gryffindors, at least – ran outside with a sigh of relief, so quickly that Charlie McKinnon bumped into Peter and both dropped their bags. In just the short amount of time it took to gather all his books, Peter had forgotten about Snape and his evil grin.

Mundungus didn't show himself in class that morning according to Arnold; he didn't go to lunch either. This time, even Vega frowned worriedly, and Sirius appeared to be thinking hard for the whole meal.

He was still thinking as he walked to the Herbology class along with the others; Professor Sprout didn't lead them to the usual greenhouse number 1 – this time they headed toward the Whomping Willow, near the Forbidden Forest. Wrapped up warmly in their winter cloaks, the students followed their teacher in single file, stumbling in the knee-level snow. The last ones were luckier, as they followed in the furrows the firsts students had dug in.

"Here, get together," said Professor Sprout once everybody came few feet away from the Willow. "Don't come too much close – there, it's perfect. Now today, as I told you so last week, we're going to observe the Whomping Willow. I do hope all of you have read the little paragraph about that kind of tree in the annex of your _A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_. Now then, who can tell me –"

"Professor!" Fleur Delaney exclaimed. "Look at that!"

Looking hard at the Willow, they could read engraved into the trunk in big, hasty, awkward letters 'Gryffindor – fun galore'. The whole class burst out laughing as Sprout turned just as green as Peter's mint humbug.

"Now, I shall take ten points from Gryffindor for this!" she cried when she found the use of her voice again. "It's a scandal – monstrous – doing such an awful thing to a young, harmless tree …"

"She's overdoing it quite a bit," Sirius whispered in James's ear. "This Willow's at least three years of age, and I can tell you by the way it wanted to punch me that this thing's anything but harmless. It almost knocked my head off."

"Shut up," James hissed, "I don't want to lose more points –"

"Say – you don't admit your defeat, Jamsie, do you?"

James ignored him and watched with concern as Sprout walked cautiously around the tree. _Let all of this end there,_ he thought, mentally cursing Sirius and that blasted cheek of his.

The Gryffindors had never seen their teacher so angry. She looked really furious, muttering to herself as she went round the Willow to inspect it, however not coming too close.

Then, as she turned to her class, they saw her freeze on the spot, gaping; the only move about her was a little cloud of white haze coming from her slightly open mouth. They watched her, not understanding – only Lily followed her gaze, and she froze as well. Sprout started running in the direction of the small group. The students stepped aside; she passed them and ran on toward the edge of the Forest and a figure sitting in the snow, whom they'd just made out. Lily jumped on her feet and followed her; glad to eventually get an occasion to move – they were starting to feel _really_ cold – the students ran after them.

The figure was Mundungus Fletcher.

He was sitting in the snow, with his lips blue, his brows frozen and his clothes drenched; a downright lost expression was on his usually cheerful face. His brown eyes were slowly glancing around in both a tired and a mechanical sort of way; he had lost his pointed hat and snow soaked his dark hair.

"Fletcher!" Sprout exclaimed, astounded. "Finnigan," she added as she turned to Fergus near by, "fetch the matron. What're you doing here, Fletcher? What happened?"

"It's been snowing – it's been snowing already?"

That was Mundungus' only reply; Sprout felt his forehead, looked into his eyes and looked both puzzled and almost frightened, "Seems that somebody's cast him a Confundus Charm, or a Memory Charm … What in the world …"

She forced Mundungus to get up and walk a few steps while she energetically rubbed on his back; first-years looked at them frightfully. Sirius was frowning, James looked concerned, as did Remus and Lily. 

Madam Pomfrey arrived after a few minutes; she inspected Fletcher with her skilled eyes, then conjured up a stretcher onto which Sprout laid the boy. Then the matron muttered a few words as she pointed her wand to him; the frost melted from his brows and a little colour was back on his pale cheeks. 

When Madam Pomfrey returned to the castle walking behind the stretcher, nobody let out a word for a few seconds, then Professor Sprout said with a nod, "Back to greenhouse number 1, everybody."

"What the heck happened?" James whispered hoarsely as he backed off a little from the group of students. 

Sirius shook his head, looking rather pale, "I know just as much as you, that is nothing." He seemed shocked.

"He hasn't spent the whole night outside, has he?" Lily asked in a small voice.

"I don't think so," Remus answered, pulling his rather thin cloak around his shoulders, "he'd be frozen to death by now if he had."

"So _where_ has he been? And _what_ did happen to him, for God's sake?"

All that the three boys could give as an answer to Lily's anxious question was a hopeless shrug. They had no clue.

* * *

The whole school talked only about that story for the rest of the day, and even the next. Nobody knew anything – once Mundungus was up to being questioned, Professor McGonagall and Albus Dumbledore himself asked him; nothing came out. Mundungus Fletcher didn't remember _anything_ about what happened, and even one of Walsh's Truth Potions gave no result. Someone had indeed cast a Memory Charm on him; and as this someone hadn't done that by half, nobody knew either why or where he had disappeared, when he had reappeared or what he was doing outside, so close to the Forbidden Forest.

Mundungus stayed in the hospital wing for a week, lying in his bed moping. He felt awfully ashamed. It was true that while he loved getting everybody's attention, he _hated_ being made fun of; he felt as if, as soon as he'd put one foot outside, the whole school would point him, saying "Oy, Fletch! Not forgotten anything today yet?" And above all, he had a terrible feeling that he'd been had, completely and entirely, which never happened to him ordinarily. He remained in a foul mood the whole time – even when James, Sirius, Remus and Lily poked their head shyly in the hospital wing. He didn't brighten up when Lily said "Get well", giving him a sorry but kind smile, nor when James told him not to worry, that his legend was intact, nor when Remus asked him – to please him – some help about a prank on Snape, nor when Sirius thoughtfully remarked that he'd never been so famous before all this… "Fletch" sulked on.

However, he couldn't help but raising his eyebrows incredulously when the door of the hospital wing opened, to let in someone with long, black slightly wavy hair hanging down on their shoulders and with blue eyes that scanned the room until they found what they were looking for, "Oy?"

"Coming to comfort me as well?" grumbled Mundungus, secretly delighted. "Thanks, I've had my share of condolences."

Vega entered the room, shut the door and stood in front of him with her arms crossed, "Cut it out! You're a big enough boy to get through this by yourself; besides I haven't got all day. I'd just come to see if you were all right."

"Of course," Mundungus said in his most sarcastic voice. "I've lost twenty-four hours and I don't know where they went, I've woken up in the snow not knowing either the place I was in, or the day or the time of day it was, and now I'm ashamed to death in the hospital wing… you're kidding me, aren't you?"

There was a little pause, then Vega said with her most ironic grin, "You look perfectly fine to me. See you!"

"Wait!" Mundungus cried as she turned on her heels and walked firmly away. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I didn't want to –"

"Did you?" Vega said quizzically, one hand on the handle. "Too bad, you sounded quite perfect. Look," she added on a more serious tone, "I've passed by only to see how you were doing, not in order to get snapped at, nor chatted up, thank you very much. Besides let me tell you that it's rather Slytherin-like to be so afraid about your reputation."

"So why did you come and see me?"

"I've told you: I've come to see how you were getting on. I got an answer to that question: you've had your insane sense of humour back with your health. Now bye!"

"No! Wait, Veg –"

She was already gone. Mundungus lay back in his bed groaning, "Stupid – silly – moron – I'm impossible."

Vega didn't come back to see him – she thought her mission accomplished, that was all. As for Mundungus, he came back to class on the next Monday. Contrary to whatever he was afraid of, the students left him alone for the most part and nobody made fun of him. There were some sniggers from the Slytherins; but after he'd sneaked into their common room to … _settle a few things_, the Slytherins of every year left him cautiously alone.

Things calm down quickly at Hogwarts when there's nothing to fan the fire of gossips; but our "fiendish foursome" knew better than to forget their friend's misadventure. They came up with loads of theories, one always more incredible than the others, then fell into a discouraged silence. Still nothing.

They were so taken by this "case" that they'd almost drop their pranks. James tried and bewitched Severus Snape's Potions book and grew four feet to it – Snape ran after his book for quite a while – but his heart wasn't in it. Anyway, this little innocent incident gave Snape another reason – if he needed one – to put into practice the plan he'd been thinking of since Mundungus' disappearance. He only must watch them carefully now; then…

In the last fortnight of November, Vega let it slip to James, Remus and Peter that her brother's birthday was soon and it would be funny to play a little prank on him to celebrate his eleventh birthday. The three boys agreed enthusiastically – it would be a good break after spending half of the month playing detectives. Besides, they were afraid they might lose their touch.

So, when Sirius woke up on the morning of his eleventh birthday, he didn't find himself in his warm, soft bed, in his dormitory, but half sitting in a dark corridor, with only a picture on the wall as a company; it showed a fat grey pony asleep on his hooves and a little knight who was yelling, "Now, enough sleep, you scurvy braggart! Stand up and face me like a brave man! You violated my lands, now you shalt pay this affront with your life!"

"Oh, shut up," muttered Sirius half asleep. He stood up with some difficulty – Merlin's beard, how cold and hard the floor was to sleep on! – and glanced around him.

He was standing in a long corridor, darkened by the lack of sunlight through the windows, where you could see a vague grey line meaning the mere beginning of dawn; the picture showing the little knight covered a big part of the wall. The odd character was gesticulating wildly, trying to brandish a sword much too long for him, and Sirius wondered, as he rubbed his sore neck, when he would finally fall off his horse. 

"Well!" the knight squealed. "Too much a coward to face a challenge? You rascal! You dog!"

Sirius ignored the flood of insults that followed; he was starting to understand. A sort of flash caught his attention near the end of the corridor, he tiptoed toward it and –

"AAAAH!"

"AAAAH!"

James' yell turned rapidly into a fit of laughter, echoed by Remus' and Peter's. Sirius shook his head. He'd been had for good.

"Happy birthday, Sirius!" Remus said cheerfully. "You didn't expect that, did you?"

"Not quite. Vega told you, I suppose?"

"Yep,' said James, still laughing. 'You should've seen your head when you woke up –"

"And when you screamed!"

"And when that knight challenged you!"

"By the way," said Sirius, looking lopsidedly toward the knight a bit baffled by the turn of events, "who's that mental?"

"Sir Cadogan," James explained. "He sort of stands sentinel in the North Tower but sometimes he goes lurking around. Remember that first night, when you sent him packing and Vega lectured you?"

"Makes me think I've still a score to settle with him," Sirius said, glaring at the picture.

"Can't it wait? Because we're hungry. Besides," said Remus with his lopsided grin, "I don't want to upset you or anything, but you're quite heavy, even if you look all skin and bones. Plus there are seven stairs to climb up to here."

"OK, I'm coming!"

They went back to their dormitory – Sirius was still wearing his pyjamas, after all – fighting back the idea of getting back to bed. James was still a bit sleepy, and he stumbled over something he didn't see in the shadow. Then they headed toward their common room. Vega said "Happy birthday!" to her brother, without paying any attention to his glaring at her. However, Sirius's good mood rushed back to him when she handed him a whole assortment of sweets she'd bought during her last visit to Hogsmeade, the wizarding village the students could go to from their third year. The sweet-shop, Honeydukes, was really the sweet-lovers paradise – they could find everything there. 

But the real surprise was Lucy's – the Blacks' owl – landing on the breakfast table, missing Sirius's bacon plate by half an inch as she dropped a big envelope. He hadn't used the owl till now – apart from the "letter bombs" he'd promised to his father, but he also sent some more serious letters, in which he told about Hogwarts, the teachers (he had made a vivid picture of Binns and his soporific classes) and above all about the friends he had made at Hogwarts. Sirius put down his fork and untied gently the envelope from Lucy's foot; she flew away with a little reproaching You're-crazy-to-have-me-carry-such-heavy-things sort of hoot. James curiously watched him open the envelope, glance inside and suppress a cry of joy with great difficulty. 

What James saw inside, however, had nothing to thrill about; it was a set of old paper sheets with odd lines and what looked like music notes. James had already seen scores before, but on those he'd seen the notes didn't stood still like they did on these ones! A real score – a wizarding score, at least – kept re-creating itself, the notes crossed, intermingled melted together although, and created music by themselves …

"What?' asked Sirius as he noticed his friend's surprised expression. "Never seen a guitar score before?"

"Guitar? Oh, no …" Vega rolled her eyes and said with a fake weary sigh. 'Don't tell me Da sent you the sheets you had at home –"

"Well, he did!" Sirius said, ignoring his sister's sarcastic tone as he looked at the scores one by one. "All my favourites – _Like a Rolling Stone_, and _The Sound of Silence_, and _Cecilia_, _Bridge Over Troubled Water_ – plus all the Beatles' I love – _thanks_, Da! Even _Something_ – you'll love this one, Lily. It's lovely."

Tim Thomas suppressed a chuckle.

"What?"

"_Girls_ listen to the Beatles, not boys!"

"Since when?' retorted Sirius at once, hit at his sensitive point. "They've been inspiring every music for ten years – they're absolutely great!"

Not wanting a quarrel-discussion like the ones Sirius knew so well how to start, Mundungus whispered in his ear, "When is your sister's birthday?"

"What? Ah, May 18th. We should team up to fix a little prank on her, so she won't betray me next year like she did today … what d'you think?"

"Do count me in!" Fletch winked.

* * *

The day went on in rather a normal way, but Sirius couldn't escape the huge pillows fight Remus started as soon as he'd stepped into the dormitory. If the pillow he threw at Sirius as a declaration of war was terrible, the answer was even fiercer, and Remus swayed back from the shock. Of course James pitched into the fight, and soon it was total war-fare. It was every man for himself. Peter tried to hide behind his curtains, but James leaped on him with a wild yell and he was forced into taking his own pillow for mere defence. 

The four friends were half-blinded by the feathers flying about everywhere, half-suffocated under the pillows and quite choking with laughter – they loved it. This time, however, Sirius was distracted by a particularly violent pillow-knock from James; he stumbled, trying to maintain his balance. Remus hadn't seen that through the feathers flying, and he threw his pillow at Sirius's outline. Sirius stumbled and collapsed backwards.

_Bong!_

Sirius's head resounded like a gong against the wood of the post and he stood there lying, unmoving. Things came to a sort of stand-still: James grasping his pillow, Peter slowly emerging from behind his bed, Remus who had suddenly turned paler than the feathers escaping from the guilty pillow, which were still hanging through the dormitory. These feathers were suspended in the air as if by the sudden silence that had fallen over the small room.

James suddenly dropped his pillow, breaking the stillness of the room; his heart pounding, he rushed toward Sirius lying completely motionless at the foot of the bed, crouched down, and whispered softly, "S – Sirius?"

Sirius sat up very suddenly, his eyes wild and wide open, gasping, and looking furious. James let out a huge sigh of relief as Peter, though still frightened, came completely from behind the bed. As for Remus, he closed his eyes and sat down, severely shaken.

"You're mental," said Sirius as he got up slowly, cautiously rubbing the back of his head. "Out cold, I was."

Then he added with a broad smile, "Interesting experience. Want to try it, anyone?"

Remus shook his head, smiling. James looked at the post where Sirius had fallen, "Oy! What's that?"

"What?"

James came closer and crouched at the foot of the bed. Puzzled, the three others walked closer too.

At about two inches from the floor, a little wooden sheet stood out from the post, like a tiny door. James opened it very carefully with his finger.

It was a hole, dug into the post of the bed. Spurred by curiosity, James put his hand in and took out something – a palm-sized little bag, made of some weird skin.

"Wow," Sirius said in a low but excited voice. "I didn't know there were hidden treasures in the feet of my bed. Cool!"

"What's in that bag, James?" Remus whispered. James brought the little bag into the light, between Sirius's bed and his own; when the four of them were sitting in a good place to see, he opened the bag.

*~*~*~*


	7. Jinxed Jewels

  
  
  
Hey, tout le monde!   
  
  
I'm glad to be back with another chapter. I've become addicted to this story, to the characters, to the reviews too -- it's a real pleasure to bean author sometimes. Eh. That was my little contentment trip. ^_^  
  
  
Dis: I only own what they find in the bag, apart from the bag itself. Otherwise, the characters, places, some situations belong to that wonderful British author named Johanne K. Rowling, whose fifth book we await anxiously. How anxiously!  
  
  
  
* * * * * *  
  
  
  
  
HOGWARTS ORIGINAL PRANKSTERS' FANTASTIC FIRST YEAR  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
  
Chapter 7: Jinxed Jewels   
  
  
  
  
"Dear Mum, Dad, and Petunia,  
  
"I hope you spent a happy Hallowe'en, and that Petunia didn't try and make Mrs Richard's cat eat pumpkin like she did last year. The banquet was absolutely perfect here, chips were just as good as Mum's, and that greedy Peter helped himself four times to pudding! He looked a bit green the day after, but he went to see Madam Pomfrey and she fixed his stomach. I warned him though, but no way he'd listen! So would Sirius, he only thinks with his stomach. That's what Remus told him the other day, and I do reckon it's kind of true. Sirius's face when he heard that was so funny that it had us laugh for a good five minutes, James, Remus and I.  
  
"Did it snowed at home too? Here there's so much snow that Hagrid has to defrost the brooms everyday, we couldn't have flying lessons otherwise. Boys only talk about Quidditch these days, there's going to be a match soon, I think it's Slytherin vs. Ravenclaw. I can't wait to see how Lucius Malfoy gets by on a broom. I hope he's really bad, everybody says that it's thanks to his dad's influence and money that he's Seeker in the Slytherin team, I wouldn't be surprised. I usually never cheat, you know that, but whenever I see that guy I feel like curse some awful spell on him!  
  
"James explained Quidditch rules to me, I'll explain them to you in my next letter because it's rather complicated. Lisa told me she'd love to join the Gryffindor team -- she could, since almost all our players are seventh-years, and next year they'll be gone if they all pass their N.E.W.Ts -- Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, promising, eh? -- and leave school. Besides, Lisa's really good on a broom -- she came third in the other day's race at flying lesson, after James and Sirius who are the bests on a broom in the whole class. Mind you, I don't manage that bad myself, but I think it's really uncomfortable, I don't like sitting on a broom at all, I get pins and needles in my legs and arms -- besides, I'm telling you, my bottom hurts a lot after an hour's fly …  
  
"I'm going now, I've got a Potions class in a quarter of an hour, and I'd like to revise my Shimmering Solution -- Professor Walsh said she'd ask us about it one of these days, and I fear it's going to be today.  
  
"Much of love,  
  
Your Lily."  
  
  
  
  
The letter was long, but Lily decided it was perfect, even if she'd wanted to write even more. But Nina was still small, and she couldn't carry too big an envelope. Lily took the seal she bought with her writing parchment, heated up the wax a second with her wand and applied the seal; then her letter was finished.  
  
Lily thought this seal was rather nice, and sealing her letters was much more fun and original than just wrapping the scroll with string. Her parents wrote that they loved receiving owl post letters; as for Petunia, she didn't write at all; Lily couldn't help but feel both a bit sad and vexed about it, even if she'd expected it a little. The lack of Petunia's letters only confirmed her loathing of everything linked to magic. However, Lily had resisted the strong desire to send her sister "letter bombs", as James and Sirius suggested her sometimes -- she didn't want Petunia to dislike her more than she already did.  
  
The windows of the Gryffindor common room were lighting up gradually; dawn began to break. Lily liked that moment of the day, when the sun was just visible under the heavy clouds darkening the winter sky. Most part of the students were in the Great Hall for breakfast, and there was hardly anyone else in the common room, apart from Lisa Dodger reading a book she'd borrowed from the library, a small group of sixth-years sitting by the fireplace, and Martin Riley who was finishing his History of Magic essay that they were to hand in a few hours later … Lily rolled her eyes. "Boys, honestly. They start at the last minute and they're surprised of getting bad marks at their botched up work".  
  
She tied up the little roll of parchment to Nina's foot and came near the window; Nina flew away in the cold air, and Lily's gaze followed her until she couldn't be seen anymore. After a few seconds of landscape-gazing, Lily eventually felt cold and pulled the window-pane shut -- she heard James's voice behind her at that moment, saying, 'Er … Lily? We might need your help …'  
  
Lily turned around to find herself face to face with James, Sirius, Remus and Peter, all looking at her with a sort of hope in their eyes.  
  
'Well, isn't it John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr …'  
  
'Uh?' said Peter and James, while Sirius and Remus smiled knowingly. Lily shrugged, 'Whatever. You need my help? Is it about Snape again?'  
  
'Oh no,' James said quickly, 'it's just, er --'  
  
'We'd need your vast knowledge about gems,' cut Remus, seeing that James hesitated. 'Maybe you could help us.'  
  
There was a short silence, during which Lily stared at each one in turn, eaten up with curiosity. What was that new event that had made gems suddenly become so interesting to these guys? Last time she had ventured on this subject, Sirius had said something stupid and James had started chuckling. Whatever this event was, it had to be very important to have them take the risk to be interested in something so school-ish -- she decided to help them, out of sheer curiosity. It could turn out somewhat interesting, after all.  
  
'Fair enough, I'll help you. What's up?'  
  
She was slightly amazed to see the sudden expression of relief on James's face, and I must say, quite flattered.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
Lily and the boys climbed up to the latters' dormitory and locked up the door; Lily felt oddly happy to be back in that friendly sort of untidiness, to sit on James's bed among the awkwardly arranged blankets, looking in front of her at Sirius's bed much more untidy, with what suspiciously looked like a red sock showing below his own blanket. Peter had carefully shut the curtains of his four-poster, probably thinking that Lily didn't know he kept his teddy bear hidden under his pillow, and Remus sat on the ground after taking his pillow from his bed, which looked sort of empty now with only the bolster and the red bedspread.   
  
'Well,' James began, 'yesterday we found a weird thing -- a sort of hidden place in the post of one of the beds.'  
  
'Show me,' Lily said distrustfully. Sirius pointed to the tiny door dug inside the post that they had carefully left open. Lily frowned slightly -- that part, at least, seemed true.  
  
'And it wasn't empty,' James went on. 'There was something inside. A sort of bag -- a tiny bag.'  
  
This time, Lily was all ears. It *really* seemed more and more interesting. Remus showed her a small bag made in an unknown weird skin, between brown and grey; she opened it and took out an agate.  
  
An agate, all black stripped with white, small but very nice -- though Lily could feel something slightly strange in this gem, but not knowing why. She turned it over and over in her palm, trying to remember the properties of agates and the superstitions that went round about them. They weren't famous for being cursed -- most of the cursed jewels were ones of high value, like sapphires or rubies; Lily kept thinking, but she didn't see any acknowledged curse attached to some agate. However --  
  
'It's an agate,' she said, frowning with concentration. 'Black stripped with white -- according to what I know, it's a talisman, supposed to bring power and victory over enemies.'  
  
'Speaking gem language, Lily?' Sirius asked sarcastically, sounding very slightly admiring though. Lily shot him a lopsided look, 'Nope, but I love precious stones and their history. Well, now in order to see if it's got some magical power, we have to plunge it in boiling water. If the agate makes the water cool down, it's magical.'  
  
'True recipes book, our Lily.'  
  
'Shut up, James.'  
  
'Ok. Don't you know some famous agates in history of magic? Spell-casters, jinxed ones, or whatever that could help us? Not that I believe ours is famous or anything, I'd just like to know what disasters agates may have caused in history. Besides, I do think it wasn't there for nothing -- after all, it was really well hidden.'  
  
'Hmm … I don't really know, for the moment I haven't got any idea. We ought to go to the library to be sure.'  
  
'We can go after class -- may I remind you we're going to be late in Potions class?' remarked Remus as he looked down at his watch. Peter looked a bit pale at the thought of formidable Professor Walsh as James leapt on his feet, 'You know what? We could sneak into the kitchens after class and ask the house-elves for a bowl of boiling water -- so we could try Lily's thing. Then we'll go to the library and do a bit of research.'   
  
'Ok,' Sirius said. Remus and Peter nodded while Lily frowned, 'The what?'  
  
'What, the -- oh, you mean the house-elves? You'll love them, they're those odd little creatures that take care of cleaning, and food, and everything --'  
  
Lily looked puzzled; James went on, 'We've got one at home, her name's Fidget -- at least we call her that because she won't stop wriggle about and run everywhere.'  
  
'We've got one, too!' exclaimed Peter. Then he added with a sheepish sort of pout, 'Well, we almost lost it when I was little, I gave it a glove I didn't use anymore. My dad intervened in time, fortunately.'  
  
James nodded solemnly. Lily had no clue what they were talking about. She finally shook her head and got up saying, 'Never mind. Are we off?'  
  
James stuffed the little skin-made bag containing the agate in his pocket, steadying it with a little Strong-Glue Spell. No risk it'd be stolen now.  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
After a Potions class that seemed to last an eternity, they rushed outside and climbed up a few steps, dragging Lily along a corridor she didn't know. There were pictures full of colours on the walls, brightly lit up with torches hanging at head level, and showing various dishes, each one more appetising than the previous one -- Lily's stomach gave a loud grunt as she gazed along all this food, reminding her she hadn't eaten anything since early in the morning.  
  
James stopped dead suddenly, and signed to the others to do so as well; after a second of complete silence, the five prowlers could hear a loud, heavy footstep. Coming their direction.  
  
'In there, quick!' hissed Sirius as he opened the nearest door with an Alohomora Charm. The four others hurried after him into the empty classroom. The footsteps were coming closer.  
  
'Glass-Wall?' Remus whispered. They all nodded, and a few seconds later they were able to look through the door quite safely and see what was happening in the corridor.  
  
They could try, at least -- for they saw nothing, apart from the big picture on the opposite wall, showing a huge stuffed turkey, juicy-looking and golden, lying on a shocking-green salad leaf. The footsteps sounded closer and closer, then came to a stop -- right in front of the door of their empty classroom.  
  
And yet, they kept seeing *nobody*.  
  
Then, after a second that seemed to last much more to them, the footsteps resounded again and died away in the maze of corridors.  
  
Quite taken aback, the five friends looked at each other, unable to explain that. Then Lily shook her head and sighed in a whisper, 'Curioser and curioser.'   
  
'Uh?' James said.  
  
They reversed the Glass-Wall Charm and walked carefully out of the classroom. Remus looked both thoughtful and concerned.   
  
'What d'you reckon it was?'  
  
'It couldn't have been a ghost, nor Peeves,' James said firmly. 'Besides, these footsteps sounded familiar … Sirius? Got an idea?'  
  
Sirius, who usually had always an idea about everything, shook his head sheepishly, 'Er … no. Not a shred, sorry. I'm stumped here.'  
  
'Please,' Peter squealed, 'can I tickle the pear?'  
  
Lily hesitated between bursting out laughing and worrying about Peter's sanity.  
  
'Yeah Peter, do it,' said James still thinking. Peter stepped forward with an obvious enthusiasm to a picture showing an enormous silver dish overflowing with fruit, and tickled a big green pear with his finger. To Lily's surprise, the pear began giggling and squirming, then the picture swung open like the one with the fat lady at the entrance of their common room.  
  
What Lily discovered behind the weird door, however, had nothing to do with their little round, cosy common room. It was huge -- Lily was suddenly reminded of the dizzy feeling she'd experienced the first time she'd walked into the Entrance Hall -- with four long tables set exactly at the same place as those of the Four Houses back in the Great Hall, which was situated right above; these tables were covered with dishes even more appetising than those from the pictures in the corridor, and Lily felt her empty stomach give an even more vigorous protest than the minute before.  
  
'I'm starving,' Peter mumbled as if on cue. Sirius cast him a quizzical look, 'Don't worry, we won't be that long. You two-pawed stomach.'  
  
'You're one to talk,' Remus muttered with a smile.  
  
'Now what?' Lily asked. But already a weird, small creature dressed with a draped cloth bearing the arms of Hogwarts rushed towards, crying in a shrilling voice, 'Wish anything, misters and miss?'  
  
Lily stared wide-eyed. The creature stood up as far as her waist; it was weirdly vaguely brown-coloured, with big, cauliflower leaves-like ears, and a long nose quivering up hopefully towards the five friends.  
  
'We'd like a bowl of boiling water,' James said.  
  
'Please,' Remus added with a slightly reproachful glance at his friend. The elf bowed quickly and ran to the big red bricked fireplace that occupied a whole part of the wall on the left. Lily glanced questioningly at James; he answered, 'It's the third time we go down to the kitchens, they've begun to know us.'  
  
'And you didn't even share it with me?' whispered Lily scandalised.   
  
'First time we came across it was a sheer stroke of luck, and the second time we'd hidden in there to avoid Walsh coming down that corridor.'  
  
'You should at least have taken something to eat,' Lily insisted, less vexed though. Remus shrugged, 'We'd have been asked where we'd got the food. Besides we're not discreet enough to afford regular trips to the kitchens -- we'd get spotted by Walsh or Adams.'  
  
'True enough.'  
  
The cauliflower-leaves-eared house-elf was back, holding in a big cloth a bowl full of boiling, smoking water; James took it and thanked the elf, who blushed to the tip of his pointed nose and hurried back to his culinary duties. Sirius, who had been gone for few seconds was back too, with a half-eaten piece of cheese tart. James shot him an amused look while Peter stared down at the piece of tart enviously. Sirius glanced at him, then down at the piece of tart, then back at Peter, and eventually handed it to him resignedly. Peter's look of boundless gratefulness consoled him partly for the loss of his piece of tart, but only partly.  
  
James took the little bag out of his pocket after De-Gluing it.   
  
'So, we just have to thrust the agate in there?' he asked Lily. Lily nodded with a frown, 'According to what I know, if we plunge it in there, the water'll cool down.'  
  
'All right.'  
  
And James dropped the agate into the water, looking out for splashes.  
  
Nothing happened at the first second; then the steam flew away and the five friends leant toward the bowl. The water was not boiling or smoking anymore, and was now as calm as an oil slick.   
  
'I think it solves the question of whether this jewel is magical or not,' Remus whispered. Sirius plunged at once his hand into the water ignoring Peter's strangled cry and James's jump; he took out the dripping agate and wiped it on his robes.   
  
'What?' he said, raising an eyebrow. 'The water's cold now, isn't it? What could be the risk?'  
  
'You should've made sure that it *was* cold,' Remus answered, frowning slightly. 'It was very careless to plunge your hand in there so quickly -- just imagine it had been only an illusion -- what if the water had been still boiling?'  
  
Sirius shrugged.  
  
'Oh well, I should've waited a bit, right. You're not going to make a fuss about it … Do we go up now?'  
  
Remus shook his head with a sigh.  
  
They walked toward the door; before she went again through the hole of the picture, Lily couldn't help a look of deep regret to the sumptuous dishes covering the tables. James followed her gaze and began to laugh, 'Are you so hungry? Don't worry, all that you see there will be sent up through the ceiling in a second's time.'  
  
'Through the ceiling?' Peter gasped, stopping licking his fingers one by one just in case of finding some cheese lingering on them.   
  
'I thought you'd understood,' Remus said as he pushed the door shut. 'These four tables communicate with those from the Great Hall, didn't you know?'  
  
Peter looked vexed.  
  
They walked in the Great Hall as they served the entrées -- several Gryffindors looked at them curiously.  
  
'Where've you been?' asked Fergus Finnigan as the five took the remaining seats.   
  
'Just taking a stroll,' Sirius answered evasively as he pulled his chair. Vega shot him a lopsided look, 'What kind of mischief have you made this time?'  
  
'What makes you think we've made any mischief, Vega?' Remus asked, granting her with his most innocent grin. Vega, not taken in, rolled her eyes and helped herself with potato salad. James and Sirius laughed under their breath.  
  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
  
After lunch, they had still half-an-hour left before their next class. The librarian, Madam Pince, looked surprised and suspicious to see run to her domain five students who usually were far from showing such an enthusiasm.   
  
'*Don't* you run in the library!' she cried in a rather grating voice as the five hurried past their desk. Remus slowed down and said on a sheepish but polite tone, 'Sorry, Madam. We won't do it again.'  
  
'And how,' Sirius whispered to him when he caught up with them. 'I'd be amazed if caught again *running* to the library.'  
  
'What are we looking for?' Peter asked after regaining his breath. Lily frowned at the ceiling for a few seconds.   
  
'Er … wait a minute, will you?'  
  
She went to the librarian -- who suspiciously watched her come -- and granted her most innocent and "teacher's pet" smile to her, 'Excuse me, Madam Pince, Professor Ricochet asked us to do a research about cursed gems and agates' magical history in particular -- could you help us, please?'  
  
Madam Pince studied her face for a moment, during which the four boys waited anxiously; Remus whispered for himself, 'Maybe I should've gone instead.'  
  
'Of course,' James said in a low sort of hissing which fairly surprised him. 'After all, you are by far Hogwarts' best liar *ever*, aren't you?'  
  
Remus stole a glance at him, but didn't say anything. However James could see his jaw tighten and his face go pale, as though what James had said had hurt him. "Then what about us?" thought James, in response to the guilty feeling that started gripping him around his stomach, "wouldn't we be hurt if he actually lied to us?" Because James was beginning to think that Remus was hiding something to them, something important, and he found himself wondering whether this had anything to do with his friend's mysterious illness.  
  
Madam Pince had finished sizing Lily up with her little suspicious eyes; she seemed to look honest enough to the librarian because the latter walked from behind her desk and took the red-haired girl with her as she said in a more amiable voice, 'Well, you have this shelves on the left: you can find titles such as "History and Signification of Magical Gems", "Bewitching or Bewitched Jewels", and many others as well -- if you need anything, I'll be at my desk.'  
  
'That's hardly believable,' Sirius muttered. 'She just has to give a smile and hop! It's in the bag …'  
  
'Never underestimate a girl's power of seduction,' smiled Remus, whose sudden paleness appeared to have vanished.   
  
Lily came back to them and said with a mocking grin, 'Shall we proceed, gentlemen?'  
  
'Oy you,' said Sirius on a vexed tone, 'you're not the best liar of the whole school just because she believed you, so cool it!'  
  
Lily stuck out her tongue and Sirius answered with pulling a horrible face. James snorted with laughter on the quiet.  
  
A while after, the five of them were sitting at a table in the farthest corner of the library, each one leafing through a book; whenever they had finished one, they put it down on the ground where two piles stood out -- books to keep later and useless ones. The five of them had an open book lying before them, a couple of scrolls of parchment and a quill to take some notes; the silence reigning over the library was only troubled by some murmurs apart from the grating of quills on parchment.  
  
'That's what I was saying,' Lily whispered after a moment. 'Agate is a sort of talisman. Look at this. Here in England, it's said to keep lightening and Dark Forces away.'  
  
'Not quite trivial, isn't it?' Sirius said ironically as he put down his own book -- "Magical Stones in Europe" -- on the table. 'It's written down here that agates kept the Devil's Eye at bay around Mediterranean Sea -- but not Dark Forces in general.'  
  
'According to mine,' James said, 'Persians used agates to make themselves invincible.'   
  
He pushed his glasses up his nose with his finger and added with a shrug, 'But it's not saying whether the trick actually worked at all.'  
  
'That one doesn't even mention agates,' sighed Peter as he dropped his book on the "Useless" stack.  
  
'What about yours, Remus?' Lily asked, rubbing her eyes.   
  
Remus raised his head from "Magical Gems, from Middle Age to Renaissance" -- he looked a bit odd, 'Er … there's actually a paragraph about agates. They did have weird habits, back in Middle Age.  
  
'What does it say, Remus?' Lily insisted.  
  
'According to it, if one dipped a piece of cloth impregnated with pulverised-agate powder in -- *yikes* -- wolf's fat …'  
  
Remus paled a little, and Peter shuddered slightly. Remus blinked and went on reading, 'Oh well, apparently if one wore this piece of cloth as a belt, it cut --'  
  
His light-brown eyebrows shot up as a distinct pink colour appeared on his rather lean cheeks. James asked, puzzled, 'What? What does that was supposed to cut?'  
  
'Gimme that,' Lily said as she took the book from Remus's hands. She looked for the paragraph, and started giggling when she read what had made Remus look so weird.  
  
'Hm, hmm … "appeared to constitute a belt that permitted to be protected from -- from flesh's spurs -- and -- guarantee chastity!" I didn't know that power of agates, Remus …'  
  
James and Sirius started to laugh at Remus's expression; he snapped the book shut, pinker than ever, 'Definitely nothing interesting in there.'  
  
Lily gave a chortle. Then she said, looking disappointed, 'We're going too fast, you know -- we should take the most interesting books and read them once we've got time enough. We haven't right now.'  
  
'All right,' James said. 'We can take this one -- "History and Signification of Magical Gems", and yours, Lily. It looks complete enough,' he added, seeing the thickness of the book Lily was holding.  
  
Lily got up, sliding her book under her arm; James and her went sign the library register and Madam Pince wrote the date of return on the last page of each book.  
  
In History of Magic class, while Remus and Lily took notes mechanically, James and Sirius leafed through Lily's "The Dark Arts and How to Protect Yourself", just in case they found something linked to agates, but with no result so far. Unfortunately -- this seldom happened, but happened all the same -- Professor Binns spotted them as he looked up from the rolls of parchment lying on his desk -- the essays the students had just handed in -- and gave a detention to the both of them for not listening. Sirius spent the rest of the hour cursing Binns so heavily that Peter stared at him frightfully; Remus kept his comments for himself, but couldn't help a few reproachful glances.  
  
They fixed an appointment in the Gryffindor common room for James and Sirius to meet them after their detention; Binns told them to clean dust off the farthest shelves of the library. Without using magic -- only a duster. Sirius was more or less used to it, but James wasn't; he was quick to learn however, and his duster ran faster as the hour passed.  
  
Sirius took a few books off a shelf to clean it; he started when the book he'd just removed unveiled a pair of bright eyes, which he recognised after a second.   
  
'Remus? Blimey, you almost scared me -- what're you doing here?'  
  
The blue grey eyes blinked once or twice; it seemed that Remus had been just as startled as Sirius. Then he answered in the same low voice, with a smile Sirius could guess in his eyes, 'Eh, I'm in a library here, aren't I? I want to borrow a book.'  
  
'Which kind?'  
  
'One I didn't remembered until just now and that could be helpful to us.'  
  
'But -- about what? Your shelf is Divination, I've just cleaned it … it has nothing to do with our agate, has it?'  
  
'Maybe, maybe not. How're you two getting on with the dust?'  
  
'We'll live, but it's no picnic in the park. Here, look at this --'  
  
Sirius blew the dust off the book he'd just removed; the clear eyes disappeared out of sight at once as he heard a loud sneeze. Sirius started to laugh, 'Sorry, Rem'! I didn't know you were allergic to dust -- funny thing for a bookworm like you …'  
  
'Very funny indeed, smarty guy,' Remus sniffed as he blew his nose. 'Go back to your dust, will you -- I'll see you later!'  
  
'Bye, mate!'  
  
And Remus vanished for good, blowing again in his tissue. Sirius put the books back in place with a chuckle.  
  
'What's up?' said James emerging from a shelf, his duster in his hand and traces of dust all around his nose.  
  
'Remus. He was here a second ago -- to borrow a book, it seems.'  
  
'Logical enough, in a library. Have you finished soon?'  
  
'Almost. I'm starting to get fed up with it. And yet it used to be fun at home, especially when Vega was cleaning dust off along with me -- you should've seen her, she looked so funny with that huge duster of hers…'  
  
And Sirius gave a mocking, amused sort of grin, but his eyes were twinkling. James turned back to his shelf, smiling as well as he pictured the tableau. He never had to do cleaning back at home, since every piece of furniture was enchanted into not letting dust linger; besides, the house-elves were there to do all the housework. However, only being able to imagine instead of being able to remember something like that somehow bothered him a little; he couldn't help but envy slightly Sirius and his simple, banal but happy memories. And yet, the Potters came from a very old -- and rich -- wizarding family; James shouldn't have had anything to be envious of, should he?  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
After their detention, Sirius and James rushed up the stairs to their common room, almost bumping into Martin Riley complaining to Fergus Finnigan about botching up his History of Magic essay; they found Lily and Peter there, bent over their Transfiguration homework -- Peter looked puzzled as Lily tried her best to explain it to him. She looked up when she heard the two boys coming.  
  
'Oh, James? Could you help Peter, he's got a problem -- doesn't manage to turn his goose feather into an eagle's …'  
  
James gave him a couple of tips, a couple of advises and Peter, by dint of concentration, managed to obtain a passable eagle feather without setting it in fire. He put his things back in his bag smiling cheerfully and got up to follow the three others up the spiral staircase leading to the boys' dormitory.   
  
They had just shut the door of their dormitory when Remus showed up, red and breathless from rushing up the stairway.   
  
'Wait,' he breathed, after blocking the door with his left hand, 'wait a sec --!'  
  
'Calm down, Remus,' Lily said kindly. 'Come in, we were waiting for you.'  
  
Remus stumbled inside; he was pale despite the blood in his cheeks forming two cherry-sized and -coloured spots, and he leant against the post of his bed as soon as he could. Lily looked at him worriedly, 'Remus? Are you all right?'  
  
'I'm fine,' Remus uttered as he nodded. Before adding with a faint smile, 'I've been running non-stop from the library up to here. Fair step. Blasted staircase.'  
  
Lily nodded, but frowned sceptically.  
  
'So then, Remus,' Sirius asked. 'What was that Divination thing of yours?'  
  
'Oh, yes --'  
  
Remus opened his bag and took out a book which looked as if nobody had opened it for a very long time.  
  
'"Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination using Gems" … I don't know why I didn't think of that while we were reading at the library. There must be something interesting to us in there.'  
  
He handed the book to Lily and wiped the sweat off his forehead. His face was white. Lily glanced at him rather worriedly again, then opened the book and began leafing through it.  
  
'Ah ha!' she cried when she finally found the index she had been searching for a while. James and Peter came closer, looking intrigued; Sirius just stood where he was, without a single move, with an odd expression on his face. His gaze didn't leave Remus.  
  
'There *is* something about agates in there -- pages 11, 46, from 50 to 54 -- well done, Remus! How did you do?'  
  
As Remus didn't say a word back, she looked up from the index and hiccuped with surprise, 'Exactly *what's* wrong with you?'  
  
Remus took a deep breath and said hoarsely, 'I … actually I'm not feeling quite well, I guess …'  
  
Lily threw the book in James's hands and she crossed the room in two strides to lay a plump little hand on her friend's forehead; she lowered it quickly, this time looking very concerned.  
  
'Remus, you have a high temperature … I'm taking you to the hospital wing -- and don't dare say a word to that! I knock you out and I drag you down to there if I have to.'  
  
James took a step closer and asked, with his voice sounding more worried than reproachful, 'Why didn't you go earlier, eh, you pig-headed fool? My word, you're even more stubborn than Sirius here.'  
  
'As much as I hate to admit it, he's right, pal,' Sirius said, taking his own cloak and pulling it around Remus's shoulders. 'Here, take that -- maybe you'll be less cold. At the double now. Madam Pomfrey'll be delighted to see you, I guess.'  
  
Remus let them take him along without a word this time. Shivering, blemish-faced but his cheeks flushing scarlet, he didn't look quite in the state to protest anyway.  
  
Madam Pomfrey went wide-eyed when she saw the five of them turn up together at the hospital wing; then, with a frown that would have made Professor McGonagall proud, she took Remus along and shut the door right in front of the other four. She all but gave them a ticking-off for not bringing him earlier. James, Lily, Sirius and Peter found themselves standing in the cold corridor, in front of a closed door; a rather absurd but rather persistent anxiety twisting their guts.  
  
'What can possibly be wrong with him?' Lily whispered as she stared at the closed door as though she wanted to peer through it.  
  
'I don't know, but it does not look good,' Sirius said, looking grave. 'Though only an hour ago he looked fine, back at the library.'  
  
It was at that moment James understood, as he saw Sirius's slight paleness and clenched teeth, that Sirius did worry about Remus at least as much as him, even if he didn't show it.  
  
'That's true,' Peter chirped. 'At least it looked less terrible last month -- he only looked tired.'  
  
'Last month?'  
  
'Yeah, last time he went back home -- it was … er … yes, maybe a week before Hallowe'en. Twenty-third, or twenty-four perhaps … I don't know. Anyway, it's got nothing to do with now, is it? It was his mum who was ill back then.'  
  
James looked thoughtful.   
  
'C'mon,' said Lily with a last glance at the infirmary door, 'Madam Pomfrey's taking care of him; he's safe now, isn't he? We'll only have to copy out lessons for him, so that he won't miss anything big.'  
  
'Yep,' Sirius said. 'We're starting tonight then -- we've got Astronomy at nine with Sinistra, remember?'  
  
'We're going to get an essay again,' Peter muttered. 'We won't see anything in the telescope, it's full moon tonight.'  
  
'Oh, true -- what was it, last time?' Sirius asked, before adding with a big grin, 'Yeah, Canis Major constellation and all its stars.'  
  
'I bet she set it to us only to please you,' Lily joked as they reached the fat lady's portrait. "Pumpkin Juice," she told the picture.   
  
The fat lady asked before opening, 'How's little Remus? He didn't look well when you went out …'  
  
'He's at the hospital wing,' James answered. "What's it got to do with you?" thought Sirius, who since the "new Sir Cadogan thing" sort of held a grudge against picture characters. He rather liked the fat lady however, but it didn't stop him from thinking she was a little too curious sometimes. The picture swung open to let them in without adding a word though.   
  
'For the Astronomy essay, what do we tell Sinistra?' James said as he settled in an armchair of their common room.  
  
'That Remus is sick and that he'll do the essay another day,' Lily retorted with a shrug.  
  
'Remus is sick?'  
  
It was a fluty little voice that had spoken behind Lily's armchair. Zoey Zig took a shy step between James's and Lily's armchairs; the Astronomy book she was holding in her arms looked almost two sides too big for her.  
  
'What's he got?' she asked, looking both surprised and a bit worried -- and rather daunted to find herself standing in front of Gryffindor's most famous first-years.  
  
'Bad touch of flu, it seems,' answered Sirius, staring at her straight in the eye. 'He's at the hospital wing.'  
  
'It's not serious, is it?'  
  
The big hazel eyes leaped from one to another.  
  
'No,' Lily reassured her. 'He'll probably get out quickly, I think -- three or four days, maybe a week -- but it's nice of you worrying about him. I'll tell him.'  
  
'Oh, you don't have to,' Zoey flushed pink. 'Thanks anyway.'  
  
And she walked away, still grasping her Astronomy book.  
  
'Seems that she fancies dear Remus,' Sirius laughed. 'Sly fox. Too bad she's so shy -- she's overdoing it, it becomes boring.'  
  
'Oh no, really?' said Peter, looking genuinely surprised. 'I think she's rather cute …'  
  
Sirius and James looked at each other, then burst out laughing.  
  
'What?' said Peter, disconcerted. 'What've I said this time?'  
  
  
  
***  
  
  
Professor Sinistra did set them an essay; the moon was too bright for them to see clearly the nocturnal sky.  
  
As he filled his roll of parchment about the importance of the Milky Way in the Universe, James couldn't help wondering -- again! -- about Remus. Each month, and almost at the same time, he managed to disappear. The two first times, he went home saying that his mother was ill but came back looking ghastly; and this time he felt so sick he had given up and accepted to go to the hospital wing. James was starting to feel really concerned about his friend's health this time.  
  
His repeated absences actually became really worrying. Ok, the two previous times he said he was going to see his mum. Which brought James back to his previous wonderings about this excuse -- if it was an excuse -- in brief, he was going round in circles.  
  
"This time," he decided as he put down his quill, having finished both his essay and his musings,"I ask him as soon as he gets out -- and looking at him in the eye. Now that's enough."   
  
Lily asked for the Lecanoncy book to read it in her bed that night; the three boys gave it to her, and she went out holding it and her "Legendary Gems". James only reminded her not to spend all night and to remember to sleep a bit -- something Remus would have said, Lily thought with a little twinge of sadness when she came to her dormitory.  
  
She was the last of her dorm to go to bed; Lisa Dodger and Fleur Delaney were in bed, chatting in a low voice, and the Scott twins were already sleeping. Fleur turned to Lily with an avid expression on her face as she shut the door of the dorm.  
  
'Where were you? Still with the boys, eh?'  
  
Lily shrugged and took her night-gown from under her pillow without an answer. But Fleur wasn't going to leave it at that.  
  
'Remus was still missing tonight, was he? What's with him? It's the second time he skips an Astronomy essay! I wouldn't've believed that of him, such a polite, serious boy --'  
  
'Remus *is* serious!' Lily cut her, annoyed. 'If he didn't go to class tonight that's because he had such a fever earlier he could hardly stand up. I don't even know if Madam Pomfrey will let us see him in the hospital wing tomorrow for the homework, he was so sick.'  
  
'Was he?' Lisa asked. 'Oh, poor thing …'  
  
Lisa looked down for a few seconds -- but quickly looked up again, 'What're your books about?'  
  
'Can't be interesting to you, it's not the set books,' Lily said on a voice they didn't get the slight irony. 'I've got troubles to fall asleep these days. It helps killing time.'  
  
'Read as much as you want to, but be discreet,' muttered Fleur, sounding vexed as she blew out her perfumed candle she put onto her bed-table every night. '*I*, for one, am sleepy.'  
  
'Good night, Fleur,' said Lisa as she curled up in her bed again. Then, just before shutting her curtains, she smiled at the nearest bed, 'Sweet dreams, Lily.'  
  
'Thanks Lisa, same to you,' Lily answered, smiling back at her; she put out her bed-lamp and shut the curtains of her four-poster in turn. Then she took the books and her wand, and -- "Lumos!" -- began leafing through the two thick volumes.  
  
With her head propped on the pillow she had set up for the circumstance, her dark flame-coloured locks pulled up behind her head in a ponytail, curled up in her sheets, Lily felt good. Even if the heat stuck her little curls against her wet forehead with sweat -- these four-posters were just perfect for keeping human warmth inside -- she loved the particular savour of an instant like that. Just like she used to, as a little girl, hid beneath the blankets with a torch to be able to read on the book she hadn't finished without Petunia grousing to their parents. It was an agreeable impression, feeling hidden, concealed from all the dangers of the outside even if they were only imaginary, such as the monster Petunia once had her believe was lurking under her bed … However, after some of the events of the day, Lily didn't really feel like those dangers *were* imaginary anymore …  
  
"Now, Lily! A little concentration. Back to agates …"  
  
Lily went back to the index of both books and marked the interesting pages with little bits of parchment she had torn out of one of her rolls; then, taking "Legendary Gems", she began reading, leafing quickly through "useless" paragraphs, writing down interesting stuff on a roll of parchment she had carefully hid under her pillow.  
  
"In Iran, dreaming of an agate meant respect and wealth …"  
  
"Black agate kept quarrels away and favoured friendships …"  
  
"Red-streaked agate was and still is quite precious an amulet for defence against the Dark Arts …"  
  
After an hour of obstinate research, Lily had still found nothing conclusive; if she hadn't been so stubborn, she'd have felt disheartened. She gave a sigh and rubbed her forehead, where the beginnings of a headache were spreading. Putting down her book aside her on the bed and turning off the light of her wand -- "Nox" -- she drew back the canopies and went to open the window.  
  
It was cold; the snow was likely to freeze. Night was so clear that Lily couldn't see many stars, but she was sort of used to it, as a Londoner -- the city street-lamp lights often concealed starlight, much more subtle. The landscape was beautiful; seeing full moon cast its so peculiar, dim sort of sparkle on the blue trees and frozen grass had a calming effect on nerves. Lily's slight headache vanished gradually as her gaze ran along the top of the trees, the peak of the mountains outlined in the night sky, always staring again at the moon high up in the sky, so white it seemed icy. She found herself smiling at the pale disk; she liked the moon and its dark sort of light that blended colours and softened forms. It could seem corny, or sickly romantic, but Lily didn't care at all - as long as she was alone. If there had been somebody else awake near her, maybe she wouldn't have been smiling like that, dreamily and fondly -- a smile a witness would've thought ridiculous for sure. Romanticism wasn't a big success now, unfortunately.  
  
Lily was finally cold enough to shut the window; she felt better, her ideas looked a bit clearer. She went back in her bed, curling up again in her still-warm blankets; instead of taking again "Legendary Gems" where she'd left it, she opened "Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination using Gems" and started taking notes. Much later, as she yawned her head off, James's advice came back to her. She looked at her watch: it was one o'clock in the morning. She struggled for a few seconds with the little voice in the back of her mind that kept telling her it was time to switch lights off and sleep; she eventually gave up and put down the two books and her wand on her bed-table. As for the scrolls of parchment she'd used to take notes, she made a movement as though to put them on the little table too, near her wand and books, but decided at the last second to stuff them back under her pillow after rolling them carefully.  
  
Wise move.  
  
The morning after, the scrolls were still safe under her pillow, her wand laid untouched near "Legendary Gems" that hadn't moved either -- but "Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination using Gems" had vanished.  
  
  
  
* * * * * *  
  
  
  
Thanks to all who reviewed, and as well as those who didn't -- thanks all the same. I hope this chapter was enjoyable to read, the next will take much longer to write, I guess -- prepare yourself for the wait! ;o] Sorry, I'm kiding.   
  
  
Magicismy Name, thank you for your review -- I hope you'll be as interested in the rest as you already are! Enthusiasm like yours is a real delight, not to mention your nifty way to spot little things. Hope you doesn't drop that -- if you have other comments, please tell me, I'd be glad to answer. See you next chapter!   
  
  
Jo, I'm answering your message just now -- I should've done so much earlier. Hope you'll forgive me ... please?? ::puppy dog's eyes:: Bonne chance avec ton histoire, je t'ai mis sur mon AuthorAlert et j'attend la suite! :o)  
  
  
* * *  
  
Anyway, good luck for those who've just started school again -- I know they're numerous -- bon courage! :o]  
  
  
Love from Belphégor~the Weird One!~ 


	8. Discoveries and Disappearances

Blank too 

Hey there!! ^_^ I'm glad to see you again, you have no idea. I'm so sorry this chapter took me so long to write/translate, but I think it's worth the wait. (well, I hope so.)

Okay, if things come back to normal there won't be many problems on FF.Net (good luck to the owners and rulers by the way). Anyway, here's the 8th chapter of my story … whoa. If you'd told me, ages ago when I started with my little piece of fluff that that was actually a **story** starting there, with so many chapters and all, I think I wouldn't have believed you. Maybe. I do hope you'll enjoy this part, which is very, _very_ long, and besides ends with a cliffhanger I did my best to come up with and play the evil author. Eh. It has its moments ;o]

Disclaimer: I don't own some characters, some situations and most of the places. Well, all of the places. Don't be mistaken, I do this only for fun – and it's enough a good reason to keep on writing, thank you very much. Oh, I do it also for the few reviews I happen to have got, but that's very secondary.

Anyway, have fun, and love from Belphegor~the Weird One!~ :o]

*~*~*~*~*

****

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

__

Chapter 8: Discoveries and Disappearances

Lily stared at her night-table for a few seconds, dazed and still only half awake, wondering whether she was still dreaming. Or rather having a nightmare. _How can a book vanish from a night-table like that?_ she wondered; then she realised the stupidity of the question and rubbed her eyes to check, again, on the reality of the situation. Alas, when she opened her eyes again, _Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems_ still wasn't back to its previous place. _There's a serious problem here._

She shook herself out of it and jumped down from her bed. All was calm in the dormitory; it was very early – too early to be up already. Her roommates were still sleeping and the sun wasn't up yet. As quietly as possible, Lily took her wand and began to look everywhere – under her bed, under the others', on every night-table, in every wardrobe – whispering now and then _Lumos_ and _Alohomora_ Charms … Surely she should have felt a bit ashamed of rummaging about in the others' things, but her anxiousness and the thousand questions she kept asking herself took off easily any culprit feeling.

She found nothing, and had to face facts: the book had been taken out of the dormitory. It had been purely and simply _stolen_.

When Lily realised that, her mind raced with the stream of other questions she couldn't untangle: how? Who? And especially … _why?_ What was in stealing a book – especially a book anyone could borrow any time from the library if they were only _patient_ enough to wait for it to be returned – it didn't make sense. Or else …

_Or else the thief _had_ to get _that_ book,_ Lily thought. _It was that very book that was important, and no other… but blimey, just _why_?_

She sat on the edge on the bed, chewing mechanically on a dark-red lock, not able to keep herself from thinking that it was her fault that their most important book was gone. She was the one who insisted, the night before, to take it in her bed – as a result, the four others hadn't had a single glance at it … _They'll kill me – no, worse, they won't ever trust me again_ … Lily was sick just thinking of it. James, Sirius, Remus and even Peter had become her only true friends, the only ones to count on when she had a problem – they had told her enough times for her to believe it. Unlike back at primary school were she had Sandra, her best friend – they protected and looked after each other – Lily hadn't a true "girl friend" at Hogwarts; and if her fears turned out to be true, the four boys would shun her because of that book thing and she'd be left alone. Not _all_ alone – she'd still have "classmates" – but nobody would care for her like those four had …

Lily almost felt like crying all of a sudden. She sniffed and took her lock of hair out of her mouth, then leaned over to grab her clothes – she couldn't sleep anymore. After she put on her black robes, she took her bag and got up to go down to the common room without waking anybody – but at that moment she heard a noise coming from the bed next to hers: it was Lisa, who'd drawn back her curtains and was staring at her with sleepy brown eyes, 'Hey you, what's up? You haven't looked that bad since you failed that Potions essay last month …'

'Bah, nothing, really,' Lily sighed, her voice shaking a bit. She wiped the tip of her nose on her robes sleeve. 'Fit of the blues. Haven't you seen my book, by any chance?'

'Which one? You had two of them yesterday.'

'The big one – it's not on my night-table anymore. Something about gems and Divination,' she said evasively. Lisa shook her head, surprised – _they hadn't got Divination until third year, what on Earth could Lily have to do with it_? Lily shrugged it off, but deep down in herself she would have screamed. Lisa, totally ignorant of her roommate's problems, lay down back in her bed and fell asleep at once, glad to enjoy some extra sleep.

Lily shut the door of her dorm quietly, cautiously; she stood a moment on the doorstep, her bag on her shoulder, hesitating. Then something crossed her mind and she opened the door again, almost ran to her bed and took the scrolls of parchment from under her pillow. She also took _Legendary Gems_ she had stupidly forgotten on her night-table. Her forgetfulness almost made her smile; in a flash she was back in front of the closed door of her dorm.

When she was down in the common room, her first thought was to settle down in front of the fireplace; but she leaped up from her armchair and grabbed again her bag as she came up with a new idea. Her eyes darted to the door of the spiral staircase leading to the boys' dormitories, and she nodded, a little smile dawning on her lips. _Why not._

She tiptoed along the corridor, holding her shoes in her hand – they gave a little snap at each step, and Lily wanted to be discreet – to the door she knew to be the right; when she reached it, she opened it quietly and sneaked into the silent room.

Three peaceful, regular breathings could be heard in the room; well, not really regular, because from what Lily could hear, Sirius had the hiccups. Peter was snoring softly; when the girl opened the curtains a little, she saw that he was sucking his thumb and holding his teddy bear tight. He looked rather cute, and Lily had to suppress a chuckle not to trouble such a peaceful sleep. She came noiselessly to James's bed and quietly drew back the curtains.

He looked quite young and vulnerable without his glasses on, with his wild black hair and his closed eyes. He was frowning and whispering in his sleep; this time, Lily thought she was going to shout with laughter when she heard him mumble distinctly, 'No – please, take off the potatoes – don't wanna sing along with the tomato-headed people – c'mon, please –'

'Er … James?' Lily whispered, shaking with laughter. She found her seriousness again thinking about the stolen book and whispered again, 'James – wake up, it's important –'

James opened one sleepy eye.

'Ooh, tomato-headed people already –'

'Don't be a prat, James, it's me,' barked Lily who didn't enjoyed the comparison. This time James shook his head and opened his eyes wide, looking panicked and shocked, 'Lily?! You – but – you're a _girl!_'

'Oh, spotted it all by yourself, didn't you?' said the "girl" sarcastically. 

James turned bright red, 'I'm – I'm in my pyjamas! And it's a _boys'_ dorm, for Merlin's sake!'

Lily shrugged, 'I've got something important to tell you. About that Divination book.'

'_Hic!_ Couldn't you wait a reasonable hour to – _hic!_ – do that?' grumbled a muffled voice coming from the nearest bed. Sirius had woken up, and still had the hiccups. 

'What the – what's – _ouch!_'

_BOUM!_ Peter had just fallen from his bed by dint of stretching his neck to hear better. When he saw Lily crouching next to James's bed, he turned very pink and reached for his dressing gown hanging near by – the little white clouds and lambs on his pyjamas must have had something to do with his sudden shyness. Sirius just put on his winter cloak over his pyjamas and jumped on James's bed; James only had time to crawl back with an outraged yell, 'Sirius! Blimey, you're heavy!'

Thinking the idea was good, Lily rejoined Sirius, and by the time Peter had settled down as well on the bed of poor James who could do nothing but put up with it, she began to tell them about "the book thing".

* * *

'What d'you mean, "gone"?' James asked, puzzled.

'Stolen, if you like best. Someone's stolen that book from us. 'Cause you didn't find it back, did you Lily? I assume it was nowhere else?'

Lily, looking crestfallen, said 'No …' in a small voice. James and Sirius frowned. Lily expected the worst.

'What I don't understand,' said James after a second that seemed to last an eternity to the redheaded girl, 'is why someone would take so much trouble just to steal an old book that has almost never been removed from the library thus far.'

Lily lifted her head a little, hardly daring to believe it. Sirius, sitting cross-legged next to her, stuffed his chin in his hands thoughtfully.

'You've hit a point here, Jamsie. And that's weird that it's that very book at that very moment. You know what? _I_ think there's somebody inside the school who doesn't want us to discover some things.'

'Do you, really, Sirius?' Peter asked, raising his eyebrows incredulously. 'So who, according to you, and why?'

'I don't know who, I don't have second sight … As for the "why" part, however, I can explain – first those footsteps in the kitchens corridor – I'm still wondering who that was, and how they did to stand right in front of us without us seeing them. Second, as Jamsie here said, it's weird that we're stolen this book just when Remus digs it from under the pile of dust of the library.'

Lily jumped, 'Sirius, are you implying that – that the thief could be Remus?'

'No,' Sirius answered immediately in a definitive tone. 'He wasn't pretending last night – if we hadn't taken him to the hospital wing he'd have passed out a short while later. Plus this book's no particular use to him. Besides …'

Sirius lowered his voice slightly, as he looked up at the three others in the eye, 'Besides I trust Remus. He wouldn't do that.'

James just nodded. Lily smiled, hugely relieved deep in herself that none of the boys blamed on her for the stolen book. There was still left the question of who committed the theft, and above all why they had done so. She was a bit tempted to believe Sirius's a bit crazy theory – someone willing to stop them from knowing more, the theft of the book forming a sort of warning – but it was really out-stretched. She reminded herself that she was at Hogwarts here, not in some James Bond movie – and that Sirius was a kid with too much imagination for his own good.

'Still,' Sirius continued, 'I will surely repeat myself, but how comes someone gets interested in that book just when it's dig up? There must be something really important in it, and that's why it's been stolen – not to let us know it.'

Peter looked doubtful. James frowned slightly, 'Sirius, I think your imagination's going a bit too far. You're speaking as if we had a lethal, evil enemy inside the castle, ready to lead us into a trap – want my word? You're a paranoid.'

'Not the first time you say that,' Peter muttered.

'Besides,' Lily remarked, 'if this book was that important or dangerous, it'd be in the Restricted Section of the library, for the students not to borrow it.'

'Hm,' said James. 'Not if the kind of information that's in can do harm to one person only, or a very small group.'

'You must admit that it was enough protected by the dust so far – not mentioning its title. What was it, Lil'?'

'_Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems_,' she recited in one go.

'That's it. It's taken a bookworm like Remus to _look_ for such a book – well, I mean, nobody cares about Leecanomency. I bet even seventh-years don't have to study it.'

'Lecanoncy, Sirius.'

'Whatever, Lil'.'

'So what're we doing?' Peter asked.

'We go down to the hospital wing to see how Remus's doing,' James decided, and then …'

He gave a discouraged shrug, clearly indicating he didn't have a clue. It was at that moment Lily remembered something. 'Stupid me!' she cried, smacking her forehead.

'That's not your most obvious side,' Sirius said ironically, as Lily leaned over to grab her bag lying about next to the bed. Ignoring Sirius, she rummaged in it for a while, then took out two or three scrolls of parchment. James's dark green eyes lit up, 'You took notes?'

'Well, yes,' said Lily as though it was obvious. 'Wait, that's _Legendary Gems_ – ah, there it is.'

'Your notes about Liqueymonancy?' 

'_Lecanoncy_, Sirius.'

'Whatever, Lil'. Am I right?'

'Yeah – but there's nothing much that can help us, I'm afraid – I only read the first half, this book was pretty thick and it was late.'

'Don't worry for that, Lil',' said James reassuringly. 'That's something we've got – so? What d'you have here?'

'Er … ah, here, I stopped there. Look at that phrases – "_agates were used for Divination as well … two specific agates put one next to the other in a pendant are supposed to unveil the Eagle's Eye's hiding place (see Chapter 11)…_" The Eagle's Eye, of course, I'd forgotten –'

'Oh boy. Do we really have to listen to the History of Magic lesson?'

'_Yes_, Sirius.'

'Go, then.'

'All right,' Lily began. 'Don't you remember that History of Magic class about cursed gems? Maximilian Fersen, the King of Finland, and all that?'

'Er – not precisely.'

'Well, Fersen was a Finnish Dark Wizard, back in the XIVth Century. He lived in a castle renowned for being inaccessible, and all those who approached it just vanished without a trace. However, one day, it was the wizarding King of Finland's own cousin that disappeared – he must've been hunting a bit too close to Fersen's lands, and Fersen took him in his castle for his Dark Magic experiences – he was famous for that, but as everybody was afraid, he'd never been told anything. Until that day – the King took into his head to set his cousin free and make an example of Fersen, maybe feed him to his Swedish Short-Snout, or his Norwegian Ridgeback – he was said to breed dragons – to discourage other Dark Wizards. And Fersen, without taking a step out of his castle, unleashed a storm so violent that the King's whole army was engulfed in a gully; then he took the King into his castle. The King came back to his court some days later, looking as though he'd crossed the path of a Dementor. What he had seen had driven him mad.'

'Nice little story. But what's it got to do with cursed gems?' James asked.

'Ages passed before Fersen's secret was discovered – how he did to always prepare himself to every attack set up against him, how he managed to see hours and maybe even days before that the King was setting up his army. Fersen owned a gem – an aquamarine, it's a beautiful sort of turquoise-blue gem – called the Eagle's Eye. It allowed its owner to foresee close future, thus allowing him to change course of things. Let's say he was invincible. Whenever he saw that he was about to be attacked, he needed only to raise his own army and set up an ambush to his enemy's – he always won.

"When he died, the Eagle passed to his son, but he was far from having his father's knowledge in Dark Magic and strategic skills. He was quickly defeated in a battle during which the Eagle's Eye disappeared …'

'Has anyone got an idea about what happened to it?' asked Sirius, who in spite of his first reluctant attitude had let himself get fascinated by Lily's story. He still had his chin in his hand and his eyes were shining.

'Maybe not,' said James, shifting slightly – he was starting to get cramps. 'I don't think Binns told us about it back then ..'

'I must say you weren't quite keen in that lesson …' Lily laughed. 'You're right anyway, Binns didn't tell us about it because historic facts end here. There's a legend saying that Fersen's old manservant knew as much Dark Magic as his master did, and that he was the one who took the gem … but I don't trust tat kind of legend much, they always try and put the blame on the servants.'

'And that famous manservant had no name, of course …'

'Oh yes, he had. I remember it quite well because it was kind of funny … His name was Balthus Adamas.'

James's eyebrows shot up, 'What's Adams's first name?'

Lily began to laugh, 'There, that's why I remembered it – their names are so alike that I wondered as well whether that famous Adamas weren't a remote relative of our caretaker's … No, Adams's first name's Brutus, and for your information, I saw a genuine imprinting of the manservant: Balthus Adamas was small, frail, with white-blond hair and pale green eyes. Nothing like Adams. Sorry to disappoint you,' she added with a smile.

Sirius shrugged, obviously disappointed. James said to Lily, 'That was a great story, Lily, but what the agates have got to do in it? You said that the Eagle's Eye was an aqua-something, didn't you?'

'An aquamarine, James … Yes, but _Lecanoncy_ said that _"two specific agates put one next to the other in a pendant are supposed to unveil the Eagle's Eye's hiding place …"_ Two small agates – one was white streaked with black and was called the Day; the other, the Night, was black streaked with white – how original. Seems that one had to wear them together in a pendant one next to the other, and … wait a minute – "_…the wearer of the Night and the Day shall look into the nearest 'surface that reflects without thinking' he shall stand next to …_" I stopped writing here,' Lily sighed as she rolled again the scrolled of parchment. 'I had a headache and I told myself it might seem clearer the morning after.'

'That's something we've got,' James repeated kindly.

'The "surface that reflects without thinking"?' said Peter, screwing up his nose. 'What d'you think that can be?'

'Remus's rather good at that kind of riddles,' Sirius remarked. 'We could go and ask him.'

'We'll try and go to the hospital wing this afternoon to bring him homework,' said James. 'I hope the matron'll let us in. And, Lily – bring these rolls of parchment – maybe he'll have an idea.'

Lily bowed her head sheepishly, 'If only I haven't let this book be stolen so stupidly … Remus won't be pleased at all, he was the one who found it first after all –'

'Hey, stop that, will you?' Sirius said lightly. 'You sound as if you meant it to be stolen. That's not the case, is it?'

'Well, no, but –'

'So the matter's closed, Lily,' said James.

'Yeah, we'll find something else,' said Peter as he got up from the bed. James gave a sigh of relief – he could at last stretch out his legs. Lily looked relieved too, but not for the same reasons.

'Thanks, guys. You're the bests.'

'Yeah, we know that,' Sirius said with an obnoxious grin. 'Don't we, Jamsie?'

And they slapped a highfive. Peter gave a chuckle and Lily rolled her eyes. 

* * *

They talked about all and everything at breakfast; Vega had noticed Remus's absence, and didn't failed to ask why to his friends, 'What's up with him? Something must've happened to him, the five of you're always hanging together.'

'He's sick,' Lily answered. 'Touch of flu, we think.'

'Quite normal, it's getting colder and colder.'

'Yeah,' Fergus said, 'they really should do something for the dungeons, by the way. We're freezing down in that Potions classroom.'

Emily Emungo, sixth-year and reserve Beater in the Quidditch team, nodded vigorously as she gave a sniff. She would get a cold as soon as mid-November passed. Aymeric Peppery, sitting next to her, gave her a tissue she took with a grateful look.

'You should go and see Madam Pomfrey, Emily,' Frank Longbottom prompted her. 'The match against Hufflepuff is only one week away, and if George gets hurt like last time –'

'It won't happen, Frank,' assured a tall seventh-year brown-haired boy with a broken nose and many scars over his chin and cheekbones. 

'I hope so! I hardly dare to hope that our game will be satisfactory this year,' grumbled a girl's voice from the end of the table. 'And not calamitous like last year. And the year before. And, I presume, the years before –'

'Heather!' Aymeric said disapprovingly. 'You can only destabilise our players by saying things like that …'

Heather Hawthorn gave a shrug and turned back to her bacon plate, muttering something inaudible about inefficient players, never concentrated or motivated enough. For Heather Hawthorn, as odd as it could appear, was the Gryffindor Quidditch team's coach. Or rather had been. Because this year, the staff had decided to suppress the coach appointment, leaving to the different captains the encouraging and training job. Heather had already witnessed a Gryffindor defeat in her first year; she had entered the team the following year and, due to her unequalled authority and tactic skills, she had been appointed coach that same year. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to lead her team to victory, and had had to leave the team last term.

'She's only been very unlucky,' ended Frank. He'd told the whole story to Fergus Finnigan who was drinking in Frank's words, being the good Quidditch fan he was; James and Sirius had gotten interested in the story too. 'I do think that if only she'd really been given a chance she'd had lead Gryffindor to the House Cup. But as she was very young, nobody took her seriously and we've been crushed down pathetically just like the years before.'

'Everybody knows that Gryffindor's "stuck in rotten luck",' said Mundungus Fletcher with a shrug. 'It's not going to change just now.'

'"Stuck in rotten luck"?' James looked puzzled.

'Yeah, rotten luck,' sighed Chaser Horace Hopdragon, seventh-year too. 'Last year our Seeker had hay fever for the final game, he let the Golden Snitch slip right under his nose; well, that Ravenclaw Seeker Prewett didn't, of course … then there was the time our Keeper Nester Seedall mistook a Bludger for the Quaffle and threw himself at it to stop it …'

Lily winced.

'Poor bloke's still got the marks.'

Peter's eyes darted toward a seventeen-year-old boy, with blond hair and glasses, who had a dreamy and almost absent look on his face – he had what looked like red circles around his eyes, too. _I will never play Quidditch_, Peter swore to himself with a frightful shiver.

'And that,' Horace ended, 'is but a sample. Each single year something happens, during each single match.'

'If only the staff hadn't come to this stupid decision …' said Heather's voice again from the end of the table. 'Maybe we could've done something for Gryffindor.'

'Is she always like this?' Sirius whispered to Frank like a conspirator. Frank answered on the same tone, 'No, only before a game – even if we don't play.'

'But _you_'re not in the team, Frank, are you?' James asked. 

'Nah, I've got a little trouble sitting steadily on a broom. But I love the rules, I'm quite interested in that. I do the commentary, that's something I can do well.'

Fergus Finnigan nodded enthusiastically. Obviously, he understood that quite well. Vega finished her bowl of porridge and said on a definitive tone, '_I_ will never understand what's so great in throwing around a leather ball while trying not to fall to death. Besides, flying makes me sick.'

'Oh, really?' asked Lisa Dodger, genuinely surprised. '_I_ love it, you feel so free on a broom … flying's great!'

'Whatever. Anyway, Si, I'd rather you didn't try and enter the team next year or after. I don't want to have to owl to Da that you've broken both of your legs falling off your broom.'

'I'm _not_ falling off my broom, Vega, and I certainly _never_ will,' Sirius retorted sharply. James suddenly got the impression his friend that would have wanted to enter the team just to annoy his sister … Vega cast her brother a dark look before getting up from the table and heading toward the big marble staircase.

'Barking mad, she is,' muttered Sirius as his gaze followed her. 'As if I would just fall off my broom like that … of course, _I_ am the troublesome one, nothing ever _happens_ to her … I swear, sometimes I just hate her.'

'Of course not, Sirius,' Lily said with a smile, 'you don't hate your sister.'

'That's what you think.'

'Obviously you never met mine.'

Sirius raised his eyebrows at Lily, '_You_'ve got a sister? How's she like?'

'I told you once – don't you ever pay attention?' exclaimed Lily, frowning. 'Yes, I have, her name's Petunia and she's my biggest trouble in life – well, maybe apart from that Defence Against the Dark Arts essay we're to hand in next week. Happy now?'

'You're lucky just to have someone,' said James. 'I don't have anyone to quarrel with, you can't possibly know how boring it is sometimes, being an only child.'

'All right, I change with you when you like,' grumbled Sirius as he put some more strawberry jam on his toast. 'Vega's driving me nuts.'

* * *

Madam Pomfrey didn't let them in the hospital wing after breakfast, and they had to go to class without any news about Remus. Oddly, Professor McGonagall, though always so quick to spot everything unusual, didn't seem to notice his absence, and went on with her lesson without asking anything about him. James was a bit baffled.

Morning, then lunch passed – and still there was no way to go through the human fortress that was the matron.

'Must be really serious, what he's got,' Lily moaned as they headed toward Herbology greenhouses. 'She let us in the day after, on the previous times –'

'Lily, he's got the _flu_,' Sirius remarked. 'First, it's contagious. Second, it totally knocks you out, and third all you want to is staying in bed and being left alone to die in peace – hey Peter, I was kidding!'

'It's not funny, Sirius,' stuttered Peter who had turned whiter than a sheet of parchment. James was divided between amusement and concern. 

'Peter? Why do you look so scared?' asked Martin Riley as he walked past him and gave him a curious look.

'I just love scaring him,' Sirius said quizzically. 'It's so easy – c'mon Pete, don't fret!' he cried as he smacked the plump shoulder playfully. 'I swear it was only a joke!'

Peter gave a very forced smile. He didn't quite enjoyed Sirius's rather … peculiar humour. 

Professor Sprout still kept a slight grudge against Gryffindors since the Whomping Willow incident; of course, being quite fair and just – she was not the Head of Hufflepuff for nothing – she never disadvantaged them unfairly, but she had been somewhat distant ever since. That day, however, she looked quite kind and even, and greeted them with the broad smile she usually would give to the other houses.

'Follow me, please, in single file.'

The students walked behind their teacher toward the second greenhouse in the cold, shy light, typical of a winter day.

'All right, today we'll learn more about the Biters. Who can tell me what a Biter is?'

Sirius raised his hand. Sprout raised her eyebrows.

'Yes, Black?'

'Sort of brownish crawling ivy with big teeth to devour little kids.'

Some people laughed. Peter looked exasperated.

'_Just_ quit scaring me!' he whispered, sounding both furious and worried. 

'Half of that was correct,' Sprout sighed, 'until the kids part. Five points to Gryffindor though. This week's lessons will all be about Biters, their way of life and feeding. As we'll study these plants, you will need to know what they eat – who can answer this question? Zig?'

'Flesh,' whispered Zoey, lowering her eyes.

'That's correct, but don't worry, none of you shall be sacrificed and fed to the Biters. We'll feed them with this.'

And Sprout pointed at some baskets lying on the floor; an odd smell was leaking from them. Fleur, Zoey and Lisa looked at each other, then gulped with difficulty. This lesson wasn't going to be easy.

Indeed, there were dead little animals inside the baskets, and in spite of the Smell-Masking Spell that Sprout had put on them, it wasn't quite appetising. The students had to get closer enough to the wall crawling with Biters to be able to hand their meal then back up as quickly as possible. Even if these plants were still young, their teeth were sharp, and the dragon-hide protective gloves revealed themselves very efficient.

However, these gloves only covered the hand and wrist; the whole forearm remained without any other protection than the robes and what the students wore underneath. Some twenty minutes after the beginning of class, James was handing a dead squirrel to the wall covered with Biters when one of them that had been crawling up to his right stretched out swiftly and bit in his forearm.

'Ouch!'

James jumped backwards. The Biter's teeth had sank through his robes and jumper sleeve; it felt as if a dozen of needles had suddenly been stuck into his flesh as blood began to stain his sleeve.

Lily turned very pale and Sirius leaped forward bawling, 'James! What's that damn thing done to you?'

'Just bit me, not ate me Sirius, don't worry,' said James who couldn't help but smile at Sirius's suddenly scared look. 

'Let me see that,' said Sprout. She went and gently took James's arm. 'Hm – you should go and see the matron about this, Potter.'

James took his bag with his left hand as Sirius asked, 'Can I take him up to the hospital wing, Professor?'

'I think it's needless, Black,' said Sprout reassuringly. She took a half-broken quill and a piece of parchment out of her robes, and wrote down a few words. 'Potter knows the way up there – don't you, boy?'

'Yes, Professor,' said James, slightly disappointed that Sirius wasn't coming with him – they could have said hello to Remus together. 

As he walked out of the greenhouse, he could hear Sirius chuckle mockingly behind him, '_Yes, Professor_. You lucky dog.'

James turned round: Sirius was grinning broadly at him. He walked out shaking his head, suppressing a little chuckle.

James walked across the grounds, icy snow crackling under his feet. The pain in his right arm was sharp, but he forgot it for a moment at the thought of having at last an excuse to see and maybe talk to Remus.

The corridors were deserted as he pushed the double doors open to get into the castle. He didn't dare to make a sound while walking along the stony wall, almost daunted by the high ceiling and especially by the silence reigning around him. It was getting warmer as James strolled along the corridors, and steam was starting to cloud over his glasses. Coming a few feet from the door of the hospital wing, he stopped a while to wipe them on his robes – that's when he heard the voices. 

Two voices, barely whispers, coming from inside the hospital wing, almost completely muffled by the thick walls and ash door. James only could hear them because he was standing close to the door without making any sound. He didn't understand what it was about, but as he got closer, he recognised the two persons' voices. Madam Pomfrey, and Remus.

James hesitated. What was the best thing to do? Knock on the door and interrupt the conversation? Wait a while and knock later? Or …

Eventually, James gave in to curiosity and pressed his ear against the door. If he listened carefully, he could understand most part of the conversation. _If my mum could see me, she'd fly off the handle_, he thought with a silent chuckle. _Her darling, saintly little boy eavesdropping. How shocking._

'Honestly, Lupin, you should've known better!'

The matron sounded both angry and concerned.

'I didn't have a choice, madam.'

'Of course you did! You could have lied, you could have said anything but not done _that_!'

'I already have seen someone casting this spell, it's not that difficult if you concentrate –'

'This spell is far more complicated for an underage sorcerer's apprentice. I totally forbid you to try that again – not before you pass your OWLs anyway. You're only eleven, for Merlin's sake! One single error and you would've been brought in here in a coma! D'you have any idea of what it means?'

'But it did work, yes?' Remus's voice, though weak, sounded almost hopeful.

'You've got a raging fever, you look terrible and you are to stay in bed for at least a week – I reckon it "worked", indeed. But don't you dare do it again, Lupin.'

'But I could go gently next time –'

'Are you deaf? NO WAY! I almost had to carry you all the way here last night and you were a real mess this morning. Next time, like you say, just say that you mum's ill and that you're going back home – don't try and be the hero by casting yourself a very strong curse which I am totally astounded that it didn't simply kill you! Now drink this.'

'But –'

'Not a word more! You've done well so far, make it go on that well, that's all. But if I hear that you have used any curse again to explain your absence, I go straight to the Headmaster. And that is FINAL!'

The voices dropped and James couldn't hear a word anymore. He pressed harder his ear against the door, eaten up with curiosity. He had almost forgotten the pain in his arm which anyway wasn't bleeding anymore. His heart was pounding in his ears and his mind was racing with questions – what did all of this mean?

James gave a jump when he heard quick footsteps toward the door from inside the room. He took a few steps away, then walked normally toward the ash door, just in case. He knocked a couple of times; after a few seconds, the door of the hospital wing opened on a frowning Madam Pomfrey.

'Potter? Why are you here? If you want to see your friend go away, he's sleeping. Let him have rest, he needs it.'

'No, I'm here because I got bitten in Herbology class.'

'Pardon?'

Seeing the matron's puzzled look, James handed her Sprout's note; she took it and glanced at it, then at James, 'Follow me.'

As he walked into the hospital wing, James peeked around to see Remus, but he couldn't. A curtain drawn around a bed in a corner had him understand that his friend was sleeping, as the matron had told him.

James had already been in the hospital wing before; it was a very large, but warm room with light-stoned walls, with lined up beds and sinks made in the same stone as the walls, with gargoyles as faucets – blue-eyed for cold water, red-eyed for warm. A door on the left leaded to the matron's office. 

Madam Pomfrey had him settle down on a bed; he pulled off his robes for her to examine him. The cut was two or three inches long, but wasn't very deep; the matron cleaned it gently with a piece of tissue soaking with some strange yellowish potion that smelled strongly of pepper, then walked across the room to fetch something down the shelves. It gave James time to turn to the closed curtains, a few beds away, and whisper, 'Remus? Rem', can you hear me? Remus!'

No answer came to him from behind the curtain; James, who expected it, supposed that his friend must have been given a Sleep Solution to keep him asleep. It was almost a good thing – James had so many questions in his head that he didn't know where to begin. While Madam Pomfrey took her wand and closed up the cut – giving some little gnawing pain in James's arm – he wondered about which question he should ask first. And while the matron rubbed gently his now unhurt arm with some sort of purple, mint-smelling powder, he chose one of these questions and turned it over and over in his head, without coming up with any form of answer though – 

_Why had Remus cursed himself sick?_

* * *

Madam Pomfrey kept James in the hospital wing for a whole half-an-hour; the peppery potion she had used to deaden the pain had almost sent him to sleep, despite the purple powder to mask the smell. Laying down in bed with all his clothes on, waiting for the dizzy feeling to wear off, James tried to think hard. What he had just heard totally puzzled him.

So he had been right – Remus _had_ lied to them. He had for three months, telling them he was going back home to his ill mum – which was wrong. _He_ was the ill one. Why would Madam Pomfrey seem to know all about it otherwise? "_You've done well so far, make it go on that well _…" "_Next time, just say that you mum's ill and that you're going back home _…" She _knew_ about it, that was for sure. Whatever his lie could be, she was shielding it. Why, if not to protect him?

But protect him from who?

_From us_, James thought as if on cue. _Not to let us know his secret. But he could share this secret with us, couldn't he? We're his friends!_

His friends … James didn't know what to think now. Did Remus really consider them as true friends, Sirius, Lily, Peter and him? James had never asked him that. Too personal. They had known each other for only three months after all; but James wanted to believe that with the frights they had had together, the pranks they had set up together and the questions they had asked together, they had created something special … On the other hand, they didn't know much personal stuff about each other; the subject of sisters and brothers for instance had scarcely been developed, and that especially between Lily and Sirius, about older sisters. Remus hadn't let out a word during the whole chat, answering to James who asked him why he kept so silent that he had nothing to say on the subject, always with this kindly quizzical trademark smile. James had deduced he was an only child; it was his own situation as well as Peter's, but that hadn't stopped them from speaking their minds about it. But not one word had come from Remus. He just sat in his armchair of the common room, sometimes peeking over his book about dragons of Great-Britain, part of the gang but somehow apart from the conversation.

Not that the others talked much of themselves, though; it had never came to James's mind to talk about his father's constant coldness or his mum's usual overprotective attitude, and he was pretty sure to have been the only one Sirius had entrusted with a childhood memory of his. It was probably better this way – everybody had to have some little secrets to keep for themselves for a group of friends to work well.

But right now, it had nothing to do with "some little secrets" since it was about something as serious as the health of one of their "gang". Beneath the sort of anger that James felt toward Remus for not telling them anything about it filtered a little remorse. After all, his friend's personal problems had nothing to do with James, and if he hadn't wanted to talk about it with them it was his own decision. James somewhat knew that Remus didn't have to tell them everything, especially if his problem was that serious and private.

_Still, he could've – don't know, said something, anything – _

The more James tried and reason as seriously and sensibly as possible, the more a sort of bitter feeling of betrayal emerged. He knew that was stupid, that Remus didn't owe them any explanation – but for once James had got what could be called true friends, he would have wanted to tell them everything and hear everything from them … as true friends do.

He just didn't realise that it was a bit early for total trust, and that it takes a bit more than three months of pranks to build a true friendship.

After all, James was only eleven.

* * *

The matron let James go two minutes before the end of Herbology class, so he decided to go to the common room and wait for the others. He was about to enter through the Fat Lady's portrait hole when he heard a breathless voice behind him, 'Jamsie! _James!_'

It was Sirius running, grasping his bag strap on his shoulder, Lily and Peter on his heels. James turned round with a broad grin.

'Are you all right, Jamsie?' Sirius breathed as he caught up with him. 'How's your arm?'

'Quite fine, Madam Pomfrey fixed it up in two minutes, but I had to stay up there because what she healed me with got me dizzy for three quarters of an hour.'

'Did you see Remus?' asked Lily almost worriedly. James didn't answer at once: he didn't know whether he must tell them about what he'd heard in the corridor or not.

'Yes,' he said eventually, 'but he was sleeping. Madam Pomfrey said he'd need a great deal of rest.'

'Oh.' Sirius sounded disappointed. 'You didn't miss anything important today,' he said then as he walked past James through the portrait hole. 'Sprout only told us to read the paragraph 16 page 20 for the next lesson. _Medusa_,' he said to the Fat Lady. The picture swung open to let them in.

Once settled down in an armchair with his _A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ opened page 20, James tried to concentrate on Biters and their feeding habits – but failed at it. All his thoughts raced back to Remus and the conversation he'd eavesdropped. What kind of illness could he have that was so serious? Why hadn't he told them anything about it?

James gave an exasperated sigh and snapped the book shut. None of his questions would get an answer if he went on this way – alone. He had to tell someone. He looked up from his book and glanced at the common room. Lily was helping Peter with a History of Magic essay about magical discoveries in the VIIIth century and Sirius was playing a game of Exploding Snap with Mundungus Fletcher.

_Why not?_… James wondered what Sirius would do if he told him; Sirius was unpredictable. He could mock him, he could just shrug, he could laugh at his concern – although – James was suddenly reminded of the grave expression on Sirius's face when Sirius had told him about his mum and asked him not to tell anybody. Sirius's blue eyes, so clear, had never seemed more soulful and expressive than then, more serious or trusting. It hadn't lasted long, but it had marked James's memory enough to remember it quite well. James nodded. He had taken his decision.

He put his book back in his bag and got up from his armchair, just as the door of the common room opened to let in a slightly annoyed-looking Vega; she almost slammed the portrait door shut, causing the Fat Lady to yell, 'Young girl, that's not quite an attitude for a Prefect!'

'Problems, Vega?' James asked curiously. Vega shook her head, 'No, not really. Only Amos insisting for walking me up to my common room. He's been behind me for the _whole afternoon_, I had to tell him I was to hand in a Potions essay for tomorrow to get him let go of me.'

'Why don't you just tell him he's annoying?' asked James. The dark-haired girl looked sheepish, 'I don't have the heart to do so … he's doing nothing wrong after all, really, it's not his fault he is like he is …'

James shook his head in turn. 'You had the guts to slap Rosier's dad's face and you're afraid to tell Diggory he's dead boring? I don't understand you.'

'It wasn't the same thing back then, this guy had said something about Sirius that – oh, never mind. Don't worry, I'll find something.' Vega gave a smile as she grabbed the strap of her bag and walked past him. When she was a few feet away, James said, 'You should – I don't know – tell him you've already got someone!'

Vega stopped in her tracks, then half turned to him, 'I'll think about it,' she said. And she went to sit at a table with her friends.

James went to Sirius; when he was standing right behind him, he whispered, 'I have to talk to you.'

'Later, Jamsie,' Sirius said excitedly. 'I'm about to give Mundungus the hiding of the century – you didn't see that one coming, eh Fletch!'

Mundungus winced. James put his hand on Sirius's shoulder and whispered again, 'Please, it's important.'

Sirius cast a surprised glance at his friend; seeing the expression on his face, he laid down his last two cards, flashing one of those wolfish grins of his, 'Here, Fletch – a queen and an ace. I was winning anyway.'

Before following James up to their dormitory. Once they got up there, James shut the door; Sirius leaned against the wall, a curious look on his cheerful face, 'So then, Jamsie? What's up that's so important?'

'Er …'

_Where should I begin?_

'It's about Remus.'

And James told Sirius all about the conversation between Madam Pomfrey and their friend that he'd heard while waiting in the corridor. When he was finished, Sirius looked just as puzzled as James felt, which reassured him a little. Now there were two of them wondering about the same things.

'So – Remus's cursed himself? To have the flu?' said Sirius after a minute's silence. James nodded. 'Whoa. _That_'s weird. He must've been really afraid of that Astronomy essay.'

'Sirius –'

'Just kidding! No, must've been something else, that's for sure. Something important. Otherwise he wouldn't be plotting with the matron like this.'

'Glad to hear that from you,' James muttered. Then he added with a touch of hope, 'Have you got an idea?'

Sirius shook his head, frowning, 'For the moment – not one. But that doesn't mean I won't have one later. I'll think hard about it, Jamsie. I've had the feeling he was hiding something from us for a long time, but … I didn't think it was that serious.'

'You – are you worried?'

'Hey, of course I'm worried! That thing's about Remus – the guy who saved our neck more than once – and he's quite some good mate. I like him.'

A little pause followed Sirius's words; then he looked at James straight in the eye and said seriously, 'We should just ask him, James. We should ask him and see what he answers – he could not do so too, but that we'll see as well.'

James nodded, glad that Sirius had voiced this opinion rather than him. He had turned the question over and over in his head without being able to decide what to do.

'And – what if he doesn't answer? What do we do then?'

'We don't ask him anything more,' sighed Sirius, before adding, with a sly smile of his own, '– but we don't have to stop wondering – we'll just seek answers by ourselves.'

'What?' James jumped. 'Don't you mean – spying on him or something?'

'Well, yeah,' said Sirius matter-of-factly. 'But I mean just look for him, friendly, not as if he was Public Enemy number 1 – eh, he's still our pal!'

'But isn't he going to be upset about it?'

'We'll see that when we face the thing. Mind, he can also tell us the truth, you know.'

'Or lie to us,' James remarked, thinking about Remus's skills in that domain. 'Tell me, Sirius – do we tell the others? Lily, and Peter?'

Sirius thought for a moment, then shook his head, 'Nah, as long as we're not sure about everything we should keep all that for ourselves. Maybe they didn't even notice.'

'Lily probably did. She's very sly.'

'I never said she was not.'

Sirius went to James, who was sitting on his bed, staring at the wall in front of him.

'Hey,' he said reassuringly. 'One of these days, we'll find what's wrong with him and help him out of it.'

Then he walked to the door and opened it. Just before walking through it, he turned slightly to James and said in a laughing voice, 'Are you aware that we have absolutely nothing to do with all that, by the way?'

James's head snapped up toward the door. But Sirius had already left.

* * *

Remus was back in class a week and a half later, still looking tired but cheerful as usual. He hadn't really missed a class – his four friends had managed to get him every important lesson, and even Professor Walsh's surprise assignment set up for the start of December didn't take him off-guard. McGonagall had regularly asked for news about him, and seemed glad to see him back in her class. Sirius celebrated the event by humming loudly on the tune of the Beatles' _Lady Madonna_ for the whole Transfiguration hour and had Gryffindor lose five points. He also got rather a dirty look from Fleur Delaney, as well.

To Remus's request when he was back, James and Sirius told him about the Quidditch match Gryffindor had played a couple of days ago – their house had got out more or less decently, tying for victory with Hufflepuff until the Gryffindor Seeker, Archibald Finch, spotted the Golden Snitch; unfortunately, Finch had missed it from a few inches and the golden little ball had slipped into the right sleeve of his Quidditch robes to slip out from his left sleeve. Gryffindors had counted their chickens before they were hatched. And the thing had helped the Hufflepuff Seeker, Aidan McMillan, to spot the Snitch. He had grasped it and the game had ended with a fine Hufflepuff victory. Fergus Finnigan hadn't calmed down ever since, still raving on about poor Archibald, in spite of Martin Riley and the others' attempts to cool him down. Fergus' love of Quidditch had even urged him to suggest Archie to entrust him with his Quidditch robes during Christmas holidays, for his mum to mend them.

'He didn't suggest to mend them himself, did he?' Remus asked with a laugh. Lily beamed in his direction, and answered in a conspirator's whisper, 'Oh, yes. He just didn't want it to be known.'

And all of them had roared with laughter.

* * *

Days passed by, and James and Sirius were still waiting for a chance to speak to Remus alone. In the waiting, they champed at the bit, telling themselves that perhaps, it wasn't _that_ important, without convincing neither themselves nor each other. On the other hand, it seemed that neither Lily nor Peter had noticed anything odd about Remus; none of them had remarked anything about it anyway. Sirius would say that Lily was far too busy with all of her books and Peter was far too busy looking in every shadowy corner to see Adams or Snape to notice anything.

And besides, there was their agate. That famous agate they'd discovered in such an odd hiding place – they hadn't found anything yet about why it was there. Of course, there had been the story Lily had told the boys (this had been the second thing she'd told Remus when she had managed to see him, after "_Lecanoncy_'s been stolen!"), about Fersen, Adamas, the Eagle's Eye and the agates that permitted to find it. Remus's idea about the "surface that reflects without thinking" had been quite simple. He was indeed rather good at that kind of riddles, as Sirius had said.

_'– And then we thought you'd have perhaps an idea about it.'_

Remus took the scroll of parchment covered with Lily's hasty scribbling, frowning slightly. When he looked up again, his eyes were twinkling, 'And you didn't find out?'

'Uh?' said Sirius, raising a thin black eyebrow. 'Nah, sorry, we didn't. How stupid of us, eh? Do we have the right to live, being so stupid?'

'Come off it, Sirius, you're far from being stupid and you know that perfectly – it's just that it looks rather simple to me.'

'And what would it be, according to you?' asked James, pushing his glasses up his nose. Remus gave a smile.

'Do you know many surfaces that reflect?'

Lily had frowned and stared up at the ceiling. Then she had gaped, her eyes wide open, 'Oh, Remus – could it be – a mirror?'

'A mirror_?' Peter looked puzzled._

'Yeah, a mirror reflects you – shows your reflection – but it doesn't think by itself …'

'Bravo, Lily. That's what I was thinking of, too.'

'I don't believe I didn't think of it in the first place,' Lily moaned. 'Now that_'s stupid of me…'_

'Not at all, old girl …'

So, according to that theory, one had to wear the two agates – the Day and the Night – together in the same small chain, while looking in a mirror – or a pond, anything that could reflect an image – to know at last the Eagle's Eye's hiding place. Fat lot of good it did them. Everything was theory, and besides they weren't concerned the least – unless, as Sirius had suggested, the one who stole the Laqueemanocy book – "_Lecanoncy, Sirius" – "Whatever, Lil' …"_ – had done so with a precise purpose. Which was still left to prove.

As for the pranks, they were turning more and more difficult to set up; prowling along the corridors of the castle at night was fun but far from safe, and James was really starting to wish they had something that allowed them to sneak around everywhere without being spotted. Besides, Severus Snape hadn't tried anything on them for rather long a time, and it was getting disturbing seeing him staring at them as he walked past them with a sly and wicked sort of smile on his face.

'Bet anything he's up to something,' said Sirius after watching him turning at a corner. 'He looks too quiet to be safe.'

James, Remus, Lily, and Peter had all agreed with him; now they'd just have to keep on guards and watch him carefully. Strength through unity, like they say.

As a result, James and Sirius had some things to keep themselves busy with, between spying on Snape and discreetly watching Remus, waiting for an occasion to speak to him alone. They finally got one, on the Tuesday of the second week of December: Lily was helping Peter with a Charm homework in the common room and didn't pay any attention to them. It didn't take more than a glance between James and Sirius to say "Here we go."

'Rem? Can we have a word, please?'

Remus looked up from his Defence against the Dark Arts lessons and said with a smile, 'Of course, go.'

'Well … we'd rather be alone.'

Remus looked surprised, but he just gave a shrug and put his rolls of parchment back in his bag. Then he followed his two friends up the staircase. Once reaching the last dormitory, James shut the door, then turned to Sirius who was leaning against the post of his bed, and to Remus who was gathering his books for the day after's classes. 

'Remus, we need to talk.'

'About what?' asked Remus calmly as he sat down on his bed. James went to sit in front of him, on Sirius's bed.

'Rem,' began Sirius on a much graver tone than usual, 'we know you didn't go to see your mum, neither last month, nor two months ago.'

James thought Remus paled slightly. However he kept staring at them, his blue grey eyes never blinking.

'And above all,' Sirius went on, 'we know that you've cursed yourself ill last time, and that this curse wasn't quite the kind we learn in Flitwick's class. And you could've died,' he added, his voice slightly hoarse all of a sudden.

Remus didn't say anything for a short while; then he asked, his voice still as calm, 'How d'you know about that?'

'I got bit by a Biter the day after, and Sprout told me to go to the hospital wing,' said James. 'I've heard a conversation when standing in the corridor – and understood what you were saying, you and Madam Pomfrey. I didn't mean it,' he added quickly. Remus shook his head, and asked, 'Who have you told about it?'

'Nobody,' Sirius answered. 'We wanted to ask you what was your problem first.'

This time, James was sure he _had _seen Remus turn pale.

'And see if you'd answer us first,' James ended. Remus looked at him with a sort of hope in his eyes, 'You mean – can I not answer you?'

Sirius and James looked at each other, then James said, 'Yeah, but – it'd be better if you just told us – I mean, we're, er … sort of worried – each month you look as if you aren't going to live through the week – well …'

He stopped abruptly with the impression of sounding utterly stupid. Even Sirius cast him a rather ironic lopsided glance. But Remus's smile was back on his face, as well as a little colour on his cheeks, 'Really? So that's just because you're – you're worried – _for_ _me?_ Honestly, that's quite nice of you, guys.'

He ran a hand in his honey-brown hair which always fell in his eyes and gave a little wince, 'If I'm allowed to not answer then, I'd rather not do so.'

Sirius couldn't help a disappointed sigh. Remus began to laugh, 'But you can quit worrying right now, because I'm _not_ dying, even if I don't look so – I'm _fine_.'

'You sure?' Sirius said quickly. 'Cause we can help you somehow, there must be a –'

But Remus just shook his head, without his slight smile fading, 'No, I don't think so. Now, I'd like the subject not being mentioned again, please.'

'Of course, Rem,' James whispered. Sirius nodded. Remus got up from his bed and took a quill out of his bag, 'See you later, I promised Zoey Zig I'd lend her one of my quills, she broke hers once again.'

He stopped for a second, looking a bit puzzled, with one eyebrow raised, 'I get the impression she tends to get many quills broken, by the way – I'm going to owl my mum for new quills, I'm running out of them by dint of helping Zoey out –'

'You can ask Vega, she can buy you some next time she'll go to Hogsmeade,' said Sirius, winking at James who was hiding his smile. 'She likes you, she'll be glad to do you this favour.'

Remus gave an absent-minded smile, thanked Sirius and opened the door of the dormitory. However he stopped on the threshold to stare intently at his two friends.

'Thank you,' he said in a low voice. 'It's really great, having friends who are so understanding. I mean it, I do thank you.'

He looked at the two of them straight in the eye, one by one, and James eventually looked down and whispered a rather awkward "Not at all". When Remus was gone, he turned to Sirius who was chewing on his lip.

'So then? We do as we've planned, don't we?'

'Yeah, definitely,' said Sirius, frowning. 'Not that I'm glad to do so though –'

'He trusts us, Sirius,' said James in a low voice. 'How can we do this to him?'

'Hey, it's not as if we were going to commit some crime! We'll just keep an eye on him, that's all. Maybe what he's got is really serious, but he's too polite to tell us – or maybe he's scared. Of what, that I don't know.'

'Mind you, I do hate doing this.'

'So do I, Jamsie, and not just a bit! But do you want to know what's with him or not?'

'Yeah, but –'

'So then, let's do it! When we find out, we won't tell anyone and we'll just keep his little secret – until our dying day if we have to,' Sirius said solemnly. 

'Do you always have to overdo everything you do?' muttered James who couldn't help but give a smile.

* * *

During the whole month of December, James and Sirius watched Remus carefully, but didn't notice any change. Remus remained Remus – almost the only one to stay awake in History of Magic and Defence against the Dark Arts classes, the one who congratulated James and Sirius when they got the best marks in Transfiguration, Charms, Potions and so on, to Lily's great displeasure – she worked hard only to get the third or fourth grade, and it drove her crazy each time those two bone-idles who never seem to be working pinched the first grades … nothing seem to change. Nothing either about his health; he looked quite fine, apart from the constant shadows underlining his eyes. But he had told his friends that he took them for granted, as they seem to have always been there.

James could keep thinking hard, chatting about it with Sirius, he didn't come up with any reason explaining Remus's odd absences. Maybe it was some Muggle-related thing? After all, Remus knew many things that James and Peter were totally ignorant of, but that would remind Lily and Sirius of something. But according to the latter, who, even if he was not quite Muggle-born knew a great deal about Muggles than James did, there was no such illness.

'Well, there's Vega turning weird for a couple of days around the same time every month,' he once said thoughtfully, 'but I think that's just some girls' stuff. I mean, she and my Ma would shut the door in our faces, Da and me, and talk for hours. Never understood what it was about, by the way.'

* * *

Christmas vacations were getting slowly closer, but getting closer anyway. It was even becoming one of the only subjects of conversation that ran along the corridors nobody lingered in for long because of the freezing air-streams. Davey Gudgeon, from Hufflepuff, let it slip one day to Lily in Herbology class that Professor Sprout had dropped by in the Transfiguration classroom to make a list of those who wished to stay at Hogwarts; he added proudly that he'd been one of the first to register, for there were some whispers about a challenge set up between some Hogwarts students involving the Whomping Willow. Of course, James and Sirius pricked up their ears, and of course promised they'd be part of it. Lily sighed resignedly. She wondered what could be the exact point of that "challenge", but she'd have bet the whole content of her brand new vault at the wizarding Bank of Gringotts that it was something dangerous.

That was more or less what Remus tried to tell them the day after, in Potions class; they were brewing a Cooling Cure, which wasn't any picnic down in the cold dungeons. Professor Walsh, all wrapped up in her cloak and her collar pulled up to the tip of her pointed chin, seemed to scoff at them as she sat at her desk.

'She's not human, that's what I'm saying,' whispered Sirius, pulling his dragon-hide gloves off for a while to blow on his fingers to warm them. 'We're freezing dead and she sets us a Cooling Cure. As if we needed it.'

'No, really James, I mean it,' Remus was saying between chattering teeth. 'You should be very careful – a Whomping Willow's quite some vicious thing. A neighbour of mine used to have one in his garden – grew it, gave it water and all, and as an answer the Willow knocked his left wrist off. And nobody ever could stitch it back up – now he's walking around with a fake hand – Muggles call that a prosthesis, I think.'

James gave a sudden shudder, but it was more out of cold than fear. The idea was rather exciting, and a little danger could only add more glory to the feat of touching the infamous Whomping Willow in front of the whole school.

'Sirius, is "prosthesis" the right word?'

Sirius turned questioning eyes to them, his brows furrowed, 'I say, are you at least sure she's reflected in mirrors?'

He was still following his train of thoughts. Lily began to chuckle, but a knock on the door stopped her. Walsh frowned, and said "Come in" in an impatient-sounding voice. Professor McGonagall walked into the classroom.

'Minerva,' said Walsh in her cool voice as she greeted her with a short nod. 'Why are you coming and disturbing my lesson?'

'I'm here to take the names of those willing to stay here during the Christmas vacations,' answered McGonagall quite calmly. 'If you'd be ever so kind to give me a few minutes, it can't take long.'

'Couldn't you do that later?'

Walsh's tone would have been enough to turn a hot cup of tea into a chip of ice. McGonagall held up her gaze, and answered, a slight tone of impatience in her voice, 'I would rather do it _now_. Do you have any objection to that, Rowena?'

Walsh's sharp little eyes remained focused on McGonagall, as if sizing her up; then she went to sit at her desk and said in an even colder voice than before, if this was possible, 'Make it quick, please. I don't want my class to be behind because of you.'

Professor McGonagall walked up to the Gryffindors and took a long scroll of parchment out of her robes, then a long eagle quill. She called, "Sirius Black!" and Sirius answered almost at once, 'I'm staying, Professor!'

He was beaming, looking to have quite enjoyed the two teachers' confrontation and its ending above all. We must say that in spite of his "Lady Minerva" and other kinds of slight sarcasm, he openly championed McGonagall over Walsh. 

Fleur Delaney returned home for the vacations, and so did Charlie McKinnon, the Scott twins, Zoey Zig, William Wilson and Martin Riley. Fergus Finnigan stayed at Hogwarts (James suspected that his doing so had something to do with Quidditch, or with that challenge thing about the Whomping Willow). Lisa Dodger stayed as well; according to Lily, it was because she wanted to keep an eye on Tim Thomas who had looked quite enthusiastic as soon as the Willow was concerned. Among the five friends, Peter was the only one who went back home for Christmas; he was getting homesick and he missed his mum. Lily hadn't answer "I stay" to McGonagall without a little twinge of sorrow, but she fought it away thinking she was going to spend Christmas with her three best friends. As for James, he had answered "I'm staying" at once, too glad to find an escape to the endless Potter Mansion-style Christmas meal, where he sat at the hugely long table with his parents at the two ends, where nobody talked unless to ask for a piece of turkey. Here, at least, there would be some warm kind of human touch. Remus stayed at Hogwarts too, and he didn't appear quite as delighted as James and Sirius; Lily went to see him when the class ended and asked him what was wrong.

'You could've return home,' she said kindly. 'Why'd you insist on staying if you'd rather go back to your mum?'

'That's not quite it,' Remus answered immediately, before adding with a shrug, 'That's just that I – it's the first time I ever spend Christmas without my mum, that's all. It feels weird, but I can deal with it.'

And he smiled to Lily, who couldn't help but sympathise. She knew the feeling.

The morning of the first day of vacation was a bit strange; firstly, James had fallen asleep the night before without hearing Peter's slight snores, and when he got down to the common room that morning, there was only a scatter of students instead of the usual crowd. The feeling was stronger in the Great Hall – not were there only students missing, but also some teachers. Dumbledore was still there of course, and so were Walsh and McGonagall, Flitwick and Sprout; Hagrid and Adams sat at each end of the High Table. But some of the teachers James didn't have and whom Vega had told him one or two words about weren't there.

James had thought that Hogwarts during vacations would be the same as Hogwarts during weekends – calmer and quieter. He was sort of right. Half of the students had returned home; the corridors were empty, the common room much emptier than usual. But while the students had only two days to do their homework on weekends, now they had a whole fortnight to do it; and James and Sirius had decided to enjoy that fortnight as much as possible. They loved strolling around the castle – they didn't bump on Adams as much as before – going outside up to Hagrid's cabin; its owner gave them big waves from the threshold. He eventually invited them to have a cup of tea, and the two friends were glad to see again Curly the huge yellow dog, who leaped on them and started to lick their face conscientiously. They sat on the patchwork counterpane to drink the boiling tea the gamekeeper had fixed them. They would talk about Hogwarts, classes, teachers, and Hagrid would tell them the oddest stories, ones he'd heard in bars or just he knew of. James and Sirius loved these stories. Hagrid had a strange way to tell them, getting carried away by the story and diverting a lot from his original plot to finally forget what he was actually talking about – until James or Sirius reminded him the subject. Then he would turn pink, and go on in a mutter that would become louder and louder as his mood lightened up. Then everything went again.

Lily and Remus sometimes went along with them; Hagrid would ask Lily to tell Muggle stories. Lily's style, of course, was quite different from Hagrid's. She would tell them Muggle ideas and theories about wizards; everybody was always shouting with laughter by the end, and she was never the last to do so.

Two days or so before Christmas's Eve, however, something quite serious happened. When they climbed up to their dormitory one night after dinner, after spending quite a while in the common room, James, Sirius, and Remus found the door half-open. They fell silent at once, opened the door wide, and glanced inside.

It was utter and total mess. Each wardrobe had been emptied, the content of each drawer thrown down onto the floor, the sheets and blankets had been torn off the beds and every trunk jerked open and emptied as well. Their things were scattered all over the floor, robes, books, scrolls of parchment, quills – James's telescope lay broken, and several robes had been ripped. A snow of feathers fallen from the torn-apart pillows floated over it all.

The three boys stood for a while on the doorstep, as if struck by a bolt of lightening; Remus, his face livid, was the first to walk, very slowly, into the disaster-stricken room. He leaned down to pick up his _History of Magic_ by Bathilda Bagshot which was lying open on the floor, then turned dumbfounded eyes to James and Sirius still standing on the doorstep, 'Who – who can have done _this?_'

James blinked several times, as though to make sure all of this was real. Sirius stood there with his mouth hanging open, sheer astonishment written all over his face. Then he gulped, and let out the most fantastic torrent of curses James had ever heard. Remus jumped a foot in the air and stared wide-eyed at Sirius who was still bawling; he had started to pace across the dorm with a great deal of hands gestures, stumbling every two steps on a book or some other thing.

One, then two, then three heads popped in by the open door. 

'What's up?' asked an amazed Fergus Finnigan when Sirius stopped at last to regain his breath. 'Sirius? Have you finally gone crazy, mate?'

Then he glanced over the room, and goggled back at them, eyes wild with astonishment and fear. Next to him, Tim Thomas let out a strangled noise and Mundungus Fletcher, who had heard Sirius's curses from the staircase as he was going up to his own dorm, stood there dumbstruck for a while.

'B–blimey – what the hell's happened in here?'

'That's the question,' said Remus in a more high-pitched voice than usual. 'Haven't you seen anybody suspect?'

Fergus shook his head, 'Nah, didn't see anyone … Tim, have you?'

'Haven't either,' Tim stammered. 'I say, the one who did that must've been a madman –'

'Or a thief,' said a girl's voice behind him. Lisa Dodger had just turned up, wearing a dressing gown and brandishing her wand alight like a sword, a threatening look on her face. Lily followed closely; when she saw the disaster, she ran forward to the boys with an anguished cry, 'Oh, my God – are you all right?'

James had sat down on his devastated bed; he shook his head slowly, his face ashen.

'Yeah, we found the dorm in this state when we came up here.'

'A thief, Lisa?' asked Remus, raising his eyebrows. He was still holding his _History of Magic_ book in his hand and stood there in the middle of the room, unable to move. Lisa ignored Tim's rolling of eyes and nodded, 'Well, yes! That's typical! You sure that nothing's gone?'

'We – we don't know,' James uttered. He looked up and stared at Sirius and Remus in the eye, 'We should clear up the mess a bit. So we'd make sure everything's here.'

His hand was clutching something in his pocket, and Remus, Sirius, and Lily alone understood. The agate was still safe. That was already something.

Mundungus fetched McGonagall; she appeared in a tartan dressing gown, her black hair left in a loose braid on her shoulder. In spite of her half-astonished, half-furious look as she gazed around to evaluate the situation, she didn't quite look like a teacher at that point. Shocked and angry as he was, Sirius did notice that "Lady Minerva" had quite shapely calves.

Later, when McGonagall and the others had left, Lily stayed with the boys to help them tidy up the dorm; their teacher had asked them a precise estimation of the damage done, to perhaps replace missing objects if they had to. They worked in silence, putting books back in the trunks, folding clothes neatly – even Sirius – and putting them back into the wardrobes, picking up sheets and blankets and making the beds again … not one pillow was intact; every one had been torn up and the feathers thrown away. Each robe had been turned inside-out and every pocket checked. 

Very late at night, when they finally were done, the room being in a more or less acceptable state, the foursome sat down on the floor in the middle of the dorm.

'Nothing's gone,' Remus eventually said in a low, tired voice. 'Somebody's been looking for something here, but he didn't find it.'

'They must've been looking for the agate,' James whispered as he took the skin-made bag out of his pocket. He had took that bag with him for a month, taking it out of his pocket to stuff it under his pillow at night – on Lily's advice – to put it in his pocket again in the morning. 'But why?'

Sirius looked up, his eyes shining, 'We've been warned,' he whispered. 'The people who've stolen that Divination and Gems book must've been the same who did that. Remember those footsteps we heard down in the kitchen corridors, the day after we found the agate? We didn't see anybody, did we? Well, nobody's seen anything here either.'

'D'you think that the one who did that has found a way to make himself invisible?' asked Remus, in a steadier voice.

'Actually, there's lots of means to make yourself invisible,' remarked Lily. 'Transparency Potion, See-through Spell – there are even Invisibility Cloaks, if I remember well.'

'I agree with that,' said James, 'but the Potions and Charms you're talking about are quite difficult to deal with, even seventh-years don't study that I think – as for Invisibility Cloaks, they're very rare – quite hard to find.'

'Okay, let's say that someone – any one – owns such a Cloak. It'd explain why we didn't see anything in that corridor, and why nobody saw who messed up our dorm.'

'Who'd it be, according to you?'

Sirius shook his head sadly, 'I don't have a clue.'

Then his eyes shone once more, 'But it's someone from the school, that I can bet anything on. I could even bet that it's got something to do with Fletch's "kidnapping", and I'd give anything to know what it's got to do with that agate …'

* * *

In such a context, Christmas couldn't take place in what one could have called a "normal" atmosphere; and yet, when he woke up on Christmas morning, James couldn't think of anything else than the few packages at the foot of his bed.

'Merry Christmas, James!' said Remus, smiling. He was sitting cross-legged on the end of his bed, holding a big box in his hands. 'Not opened your presents yet?'

'Not yet,' said James as he suppressed a yawn. He got up from his bed and opened the first package, a big, heavy one that looked like a book. Bingo. As he torn off the wrapping paper, James discovered a small note. He recognised the hasty, sharp writing style.

__

"Dear son,

Since this year is your first at Hogwarts school, we have thought that you might have wished to know a little more about the school you are to spend the next seven years.

Merry Christmas,

Your father and mother"

James stared down at the little visiting-like card for a while, an odd sort of lump swelling in his throat. This note was so formal, so cold … _"we have thought that you might have wished to know a little more about the school you are to spend the next seven years"_ … his mum must have begged his father for him to actually _write_ something. If she had been the one to write, she'd have said "Mum and dad". _"Your father and mother" _… James almost felt like crying as he read the title of the big book lying on his lap: _Hogwarts, a History_. He couldn't help a nervous sort of chuckle, between laughter and tears. His first Christmas present away from home ever and it had to be this book. Along with a note so cold that he wasn't even surprised, all in all. Father was never home at Christmas anyway.

James was suddenly aware of Remus watching him, still sitting cross-legged on his bed. His blue-grey eyes, however, didn't seem curious and searching, but kindly questioning. Vaguely concerned, even.

'James? Are you all right?'

James nodded, and turned to Remus two eyes that were a bit too bright, 'Yeah – here, look at that.'

He handed him his father's note. Remus glanced it over, then quickly looked back up at James.

'I don't remember one single time he'd have handed me a package, with a nice wrapping paper enchanted to change colour every two seconds, and a nice ribbon, and told me "Merry Christmas, Jimmy" like my mum does. He even forgets my birthdays. It takes me not being home for him to finally think about me – and he's got a funny way to show me he does.'

Remus was quiet, his eyes fixed upon the book James was holding. Then, we he saw James look down, he said softly, 'Just open the others. Maybe there'll be some notes better than this one.'

James nodded, and took another package. This one was red, with a shocking-orange ribbon; when he torn off the creaking wrapping paper, James discovered three books put together: _He Flew like a Madman_, _Quidditch through the Ages_, and _The Beater's Bible_. There was a note with it, as well.

__

"Jimmy dear,

This is my own little present, since your father sealed his note before I get the time to add anything … I hope his present pleased you." Here James gave a chuckle that sounded a little bitter. _"As you speak about Quidditch in many letters you owl us, I thought you'd like these books. But I hope you won't actually _play_ – this sport is much too dangerous, I've leafed through a few pages, it's a miracle some players are still alive._

Much of love,

Mum"

James gave a broad smile and opened _The Beater's Bible_ – it smelled good, of brand new book. The pages gave little cracks. 

He closed the book and looked at Remus; he was still sitting on his bed, holding his big box.

'What's that?' asked James, pointing at the box. Remus began to laugh and opened the lid: it was full of wizarding sweets of all shapes and sizes, especially Chocolate Frogs, Cauldron Cakes and Blowing Gums.

'My mum knows I love these ones,' said Remus as he took a Blowing Gum. 'And she's afraid the matron doesn't have enough chocolate, so I get loads of Chocolate Frogs – want some?' he told James, handing out a Frog. 'Those are your favourites, aren't they?'

'Thanks,' said James as he got up to take the sweet. He chewed on it for a while, then asked, 'What'd you get with it?'

'New set of quills – good thing, I almost didn't have a single spare – and a weird pair of socks filled with things, but I'm sure that wasn't from my mum. What about you, apart from the books?'

'What?'

'Yeah, look, you've forgotten something …'

James returned to his bed, slightly amazed; he didn't expect to receive presents from someone else than his parents. There was something else indeed: a pair of hand-made socks, swollen with –

'Hey, I've got socks too – oy, Remus! Did you say there were things in yours as well?'

'Well, yes, lots of Cheesy Chestnuts, Every-Flavoured Beans and even some Dungbombs – you too?'

'Ah,' said a mischievous-sounding voice, 'I see you've spotted my presents …'

Sirius had popped his head out of the curtains of his bed and he watched them, laughing.

'It was you, wasn't it?' James asked, grinning.

'Yep. Vega knitted the socks – you'll see, they're comfy, warm and all – mind, they ought to, for all the time Vega's been trying to knit … anyway, I gave her some money and a list for her last Hogsmeade weekend … d'you like them?'

'I bet!' Remus exclaimed. 'Thanks, Sirius!'

'That's quite nice of you,' echoed James. 'But then I've got nothing to give you –'

'Oh, not at all,' Sirius cut. 'You guys don't have an older sister to do your purchases, that's all.'

Then he added with a wink, 'Dead boring as she can be, dear Vega's got her good sides sometimes …'

* * *

Breakfast didn't lasted long, this morning; everybody wolfed down their porridge bowl and toasts to run back in the common room and talk about their presents. Peter had owled them a Christmas card, with a common present for the four of them, a big box full of Chocolate Frogs. Lily remarked with a disapproving sigh that they now had enough sweets to have a sweet shop work. Remus gave a laugh and read out loud the note awkwardly written and riddled with mistakes: **_(A/N:_** **the following text has been checked for mistakes. Peter being very absent-minded when it comes to orthography, it took something like ten minutes, but if there are any left, please owl the author ^_~ )**

__

Dear James, Lily, Remus and Sirius,

Merry Christmas! I hope that you're having a good time and that Snape keeps it quiet. What do you do to him while I'm not there? Tell me!

Is Remus better? Rem, you didn't tell me what mark you've had when you made up for the Astronomy essay you missed. It's the second time you skip one of Sinistra's essays, she's going to start suspecting you; maybe she'll think you meant to skip them … sorry, just kidding.

Merry Christmas again,

Peter

'Peter's taking after your sense of humour, Sirius,' deadpanned Remus. 

Like James and Remus, and no doubt Peter, Lily had received a pair of socks filled with sweets and little tricks. She had also received Muggle sweets and a novel from her parents. As for Sirius, he had got from his dad a magical pencil, the stroke of which could change colour at the drawer's will. He proudly told his friends that his dad, though a Muggle, knew quite well the way through the Leaky Cauldron to Diagon Alley, which was where he had bought the pencil.

'How did he get in?' asked James. 'You must have a wand to get to Diagon Alley –'

'He's got my Ma's old one,' said Sirius rather quickly. 

'As for me,' Lily pointed out, 'I didn't have a wand the first time I went there – the barman let me in. By the way, didn't you think he'd weird, with that two missing incisors of his –'

'I for one think he's all right,' said James, thinking about old Nigel's pirate grin.

'What about Vega?' asked Lily, turning to Sirius. 'What'd she get?'

Sirius was about to answer, when the door of the common room swivelled open, to let in Vega who seemed blissfully happy, her cheeks pink, her hair tousled, her eyes shining. She was wearing her Prefect badge askew and an ear-to-ear grin.

'Hi, the four of you! Merry Christmas!'

'Merry Christmas to you too,' James answered, a bit baffled. 'Are you all right?'

'I'm quite fine, thanks very much!'

And she planted a big kiss on her brother's cheeks; he turned very red and wiped his cheeks with large gestures, glaring at his sister. To the others' surprise, she kissed James, Lily and Remus as well – the latter's ears went slightly pink. After that, she rushed up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

'Damn barking mad,' muttered Sirius still in shock as he unwrapped the paper around a Muggle toffee Lily had offered him. 'I mean, _honestly_ – _embarrassing_, that is –'

'I say, to me she didn't seem quite in her normal state,' stammered Remus when he recovered from his surprise.

'She even _hasn't got_ a normal state,' Sirius grumbled. 'I already knew she was weird, but still – starting to worry, I am.'

'Maybe her crush gave her … a present,' Lily slipped in mischievously. Sirius choked on the toffee. He turned purple, coughed violently and looked up, his eyes furious.

'Her – her crush?… _Fletcher!_'

He jumped up from his armchair and strode to the one in which Mundungus was sitting, peacefully reading _Tricks Through a Thousand Years_. The three others looked at him with half-amused, half-concerned eyes.

'WHAT'D YOU DO TO MY SISTER?' Sirius roared once he planted himself in front of him. Mundungus looked up from his book, looking both puzzled and suspicious, '_What?_ What're you talking about, for Merlin's sake?'

'Oh, don't play the innocent, Fletch,' said Sirius, jerking his head to the door leading to the girls' dorms. 'Didn't you see how she was? Seems she's drunk or – oh, boy – she didn't smoke anything, did she?' he asked, sounding genuinely scared suddenly. Fletcher let out a strangled but definitively mocking sort of chuckle.

'Can I ask why you think of me first whereas I've been sitting here for an hour and she's just turned up?'

Sirius opened his mouth, frowned, but didn't let out a word. Mundungus said more seriously, 'Listen, kid. First, I'm not the only one mooning after Vega. Second, she's old enough to chose who she wants to be with, and she made me understand I wasn't included in her choice. And third, even if she's your sister, what she does or doesn't has nothing to do with you. _Absolutely nothing_.'

'But –'

Mundungus cut him with a warning look. Sirius winced, then muttered, 'Fine, right, 'scuse me. But you must admit it's kind of odd.'

'I admit. But that doesn't have anything to do with you, either.'

Sirius walked away wordlessly; he heard Mundungus' mocking voice behind him saying, 'Merry Christmas to you as well!'

Sirius fell in the armchair he'd left a while ago. Lily struggled very hard not to laugh, Remus looked puzzled, and James looked sympathetic.

'D'you think you'll recover?' asked Lily, her voice on the very edge of laughter. Sirius glared daggers at her.

'C'mon, Sirius, it's not the end of the world, is it?' said Remus, tapping Sirius's hand reassuringly. 'You don't even have a clue about it, anyway.'

'Besides,' James pointed out, 'what Fletch's said is quite true. It's got nothing to do with you.'

'Gee, thanks Jamsie, I'm quite touched by your words of comfort,' said Sirius sarcastically. James looked away as he bit on his lip. He had turned scarlet by dint of fighting back laughter.

* * *

Christmas day was peaceful; the food was absolutely delicious, and Hagrid had decorated the Great Hall with deep-green holly branches. The suits of armours standing in each corner of the room were covered with bright Never-Melting snow, as white and pure as the one falling outside. Lunch was served in the golden plates and goblets used for the start-of-year and Hallowe'en feasts, and neither the pumpkin juice nor the food had ever seemed more delicious. James and Remus especially stuffed themselves so much that Lily wondered if they wouldn't get sick.

She was right. Near the end of the afternoon, as they were in the common room, leafing through the pages of the books they'd received, Remus got up from his bed, looking green, and saying that he wasn't feeling well. Lily lectured him – she almost told him he'd asked for it by eating so much at lunch. Remus sighed, and headed toward the hospital wing, Lily on his heels.

James had almost forgotten his agreement with Sirius about their friend; he turned to him and shot him a knowing glance, but Sirius just gave a fatalistic shrug. He hadn't breathed a word since the morning; he just picked up a Chocolate Frog in the box Peter had sent.

As a result, James wondered in silence. Seeing Remus's face, he was obviously saying the truth – he really had an indigestion. But something didn't fit in the pattern. Something had kept bothering James, and for long, but he still hadn't put his finger on it. While Sirius kept sulking in his armchair, James tried to gather up the pieces of the jigsaw. Remus was often sick – _often_ – that is he went away at rather regular intervals. Well, "rather" …

James plunged his hand absent-mindedly in the box of Chocolate Frogs, without even looking down; his fingers met a small, a bit crumpled piece of parchment – Peter's Christmas card. He unfolded it mechanically. 

_"Is Remus better? Rem, you didn't tell me what mark you've had when you made up for the Astronomy essay you missed. It's the second time you skip one of Sinistra's essays, she's going to start suspecting you; maybe she'll think you meant to skip them …"_

_"The second time" … "the second time you skip one of Sinistra's essays" …_

Remus had been absent in late September. And late October (what had Peter said, last month? Oh yes, "Yeah, last time he went back home – it was … er … yes, maybe a week before Hallowe'en. Twenty-third, or twenty-four perhaps … I don't know" …) And late November – that had been last time, when he had cursed himself. Madam Pomfrey had him swear he wouldn't do it again; he had kept his promise. He had only _set up_ things so that he'd had to go to the hospital wing … as he did every month …

Remus had missed two Astronomy classes one month apart … and both of the times, Sinistra had set them an assignment – because the moon was too bright for them to see the stars properly ... because it was the night of the full moon …

_The moon is full each time he goes away. Or rather, he goes away each time the moon is full –_

**_He's a w…_**

James gave a violent, sudden jump. _No. A flat and simple **no**_. That's impossible – totally impossible … Remus isn't … come on, it's about Remus Lupin, for Merlin's sake! He can't be a – not him! _My best friend is not a werewolf!_

That was it. The word was out. Werewolf. Remus Lupin was a werewolf. 

James blinked several times, totally stunned. Next to him, Sirius sat motionless in his armchair, his eyes half-closed, his breathing deep and steady – maybe he was sleeping. He certainly had no clue what James was thinking of right now. _He_ was peaceful. _James_ had never felt so troubled before. His head spun wildly, and there was a loud buzzing in his ears. He knew – he _knew_ – why hadn't he known earlier, by the way? Maybe he didn't want to. Maybe he refused to know …

Must he tell someone? Who? Sirius? But the two of them had believed in a story serious enough to put their friend's health at stake, but they would never had doubted that the truth was _that_ serious … a werewolf … that was why Remus always looked so tired after a full moon night. James had still in mind the chalk-like whiteness of his cheeks, that day he had fallen asleep in class – but did he actually fall asleep? It seemed he had fainted with exhaustion. Remus did insist, though, saying that he was fine and that no fuss needed to be made over it. For all this time Remus had done everything to keep his secret that way – secret – and had managed, apparently. Now, though, James knew the truth.

But they'd be the only ones to know. For James wasn't going to betray Remus – Remus stayed his friend, werewolf or not – he was still human twenty-nine or thirty days a month. And who knew how the others could react?

James decided once and for all not to tell anybody. Remus's friendship was much worth a little secret. 

* * *

Remus was back two days after Christmas, looking just as tired and almost just as green as he had when he left, but James noticed that this time, Lily didn't tell him anything. She must have thought that he'd learn his lesson, as she even fussed over the fact that the matron let him out looking so terrible.

'Enough of this Lily, please,' he finally told her. 'It was only a little indigestion – I'll listen to you from now on and it won't happen again. Promised.'

'So much for the Christmas dinner,' Lily remarked in a disappointed sort of voice. 'It's a pity you missed it, really, it was wonderful, and Flitwick had enchanted snowflakes to fall at the end of the meal, and Dumbledore gave crackers to all of us, and mine burst into butterflies, and Sirius almost ate a butterfly along with his piece of cake and –'

Remus stuck his fingers in his ears and started to hum "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way …" Lily made a face at him and turned her back to the three boys to go settle herself down in an armchair few feet away. James was splitting sides, and Sirius was shouting with laughter, his bad mood finally forgotten.

When the two boys calmed down, Remus looked serious again, 'You know, that book we've been stolen – _Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems_ … I was to hand it in today. I'd like to go and see Madam Pince, and tell her that –'

'We're coming with you', James decided.

'Yeah,' Sirius added. 'We should say that it was stolen when our dorm was devastated – nah, that won't work, we've told McGonagall nothing was missing –'

Remus shrugged. James remarked, 'Yeah, we can go and see Hagrid after that, if we're still alive I mean. It'll be a nice change,' he added. He couldn't stop thinking _"He's a werewolf … no, stop that, he's your pal, yes? It's really not obvious, though … Blimey, just _quit_ thinking about that!"_ He shook his head, muttering something inaudible under his breath. Sirius gave him an odd look.

'Oy! Are you all right?'

'Quite fine,' choked James. 'Let's go, then?'

They went. Sirius – and Remus as well – cast James some lopsided glances however. James sometimes glanced back, slightly uneasy. 

When they came up to the librarian's desk, Remus seemed to hesitate a little; he turned to his two friends and asked rather nervously, 'Oy, if she tries to curse me or something – d'you know the Disarming Spell?'

'Just _go_,' said Sirius as he pushed him toward the desk. Remus cleared his throat, and ventured, 'Er … Madam Pince?'

The librarian looked up briskly and peered at him with her little piercing eyes.

'Well, it's about this book, _Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems_ –'

'At last!' cried Madam Pince, in her usual sharp voice. 'You are finally signing the register. Tell me, Lupin, can I ask why you didn't when you brought this book back here?'

Remus's eyes widened. He glanced at James and Sirius who had the same astonished look on their face, then turned back to Madam Pince, 'I – I beg your pardon? When did I bring it back?'

'Three weeks ago! You left it on my desk but you must have been in a great hurry because you didn't even take time to sign the handed-in book register.'

A little venom suddenly slipped into her voice as she hissed, 'Next time – if you wish there be a next time – _do_ think of signing that register. Or else you'll have a good reason to regret not doing so.'

Remus hurried to sign the register and she looked down again to the piece of parchment lying in front of her. But Remus wanted another attempt, 'But I –' he began, only to be cut short by the librarian who glared daggers at him.

'Do you have something to say, Lupin?'

'N–no,' Remus stammered. 'Have a good day.'

Madam Pince watched them walk out of the library, her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

'What on earth does all that mean?' asked Remus in a low voice as they headed to the big oak double doors opening onto the grounds. 'I've never brought this book back, I didn't even get to read it wholly –'

'Seems that our thief has done you that favour,' said Sirius sarcastically. Then he said more seriously, 'So I was right, then – it _was_ a warning. Someone's stolen the book right under our nose not to let us nosing around things that have nothing to do with us.'

'All the more reason for nosing around,' pointed out James as he opened the double doors. 'That warning meant we were getting close to the point.'

But Remus shook his head.

'There's something you're forgetting here,' he said soberly, wrapping his scarf around his neck – the wind was sharp and cold outside. 'The book hasn't been stolen from _our_ dormitory. The warning might've been for us, but somebody else suffered from it. _Lily_.'

'She's in it with us,' said Sirius. 'And she means to be in it with us. If she were afraid, she'd tell us, wouldn't she?'

'I don't think she's really afraid,' said James thoughtfully. 'Actually, I never asked her … d'you think that –'

He broke off all of a sudden, frowned, and put up a finger to his lips.

'Sshh … listen.'

They had reached the Whomping Willow, and the edge of the Forbidden Forest was only a few feet away from them. Hagrid's cabin, a few meters away, had its shutters closed and no smoke slipped out from the chimney stack, which meant that its owner wasn't home. _Too bad_, thought Sirius; he looked around and whispered, 'What's up, Jamsie?'

'We're being followed.'

The three of them fell silent instantly. Remus closed his eyes for a second; when he opened them again, he glanced at Hagrid's deserted cabin.

'There's somebody hiding behind it,' he whispered. Sirius, James, and him looked at each other. Remus walked round the cabin by the left as James and Sirius went to the right. Noiselessly, careful to not making the snow crackle as he walked, James made his way slowly beside Sirius. They were much closer to the Forbidden Forest now; closely, it seemed even darker. Almost arrived behind the cabin, the two friends paused, then leaped on the dark form hiding behind just as the same time as Remus did.

There was a yelp, closely followed by a loud curse.

James, Remus, and Sirius had leaped at Severus Snape.

'You!' Sirius exclaimed on a furious, disgusted tone. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

'Sirius …' muttered Remus, before turning to Snape and asking, in a much colder voice than usual, 'What're you doing here all alone, Severus?' 

'Taking a stroll!' Snape retorted. 'It's not forbidden, is it?'

'Yeah, right, of course,' said James mockingly, 'the weather was so fine you decided to take a little walk on your own in the snow, and you took the opportunity to spy on us, just for a lark? Sorry, won't wash with us.'

'Do you know what you're going to do now?' said Remus, in a voice that was too gentle to be safe. 'Spin on your heels and hurry back up to the castle.'

'And what if I don't?' said Snape out of sheer bravado, his arms folded on his skinny chest. 

Sirius gave his wolfish grin, the one that unveiled his eye-teeth and ran a shiver in the addressee's neck.

'Well, if you don't, we'll – play. You know, cats and mice or something … Won't we, guys? We'll _play_ with him.'

'And – what're you going to do to me?' asked Snape, in a slightly more high-pitched tone than the second before. He looked much less self-assured without his cronies behind him to fight for him if he needed.

When he meant to, Remus's grin was worse than Sirius's. His eyes alight with sarcasm, he answered mercilessly, 'Why, we'll do our best, of course.'

Severus let out a small, scared whimper. James began to laugh – a sarcastic chuckle, meant to impress their enemy. Snape tried to step back not too obviously. 

They didn't hear the footsteps muffled in the snow, coming from the Forbidden Forest.

But they did hear pretty well the cry _Stupefy!_ uttered in a deep, powerful voice – they also did see the flash of bright light that hit Sirius right in the chest. He fell down without a cry, and the snow silenced his fall. Too stunned to move, James, Remus, and Severus stood there, staring at the closed eyes, the slightly open mouth, the face that still wore an astonished look on it; Sirius's whole body was so still it was terrifying.

James leaned down slowly, very slowly, and took Sirius's wrist. _Let him be alive, oh please let him be alive …_ James's heart skipped a beat when he felt a pulse, weak but still there, running in his friend's veins. He almost shouted from relief.

'What's with him, Potter?' asked Snape, this time in a _much_ higher voice than usual. 'Who's done that?'

'James?' whispered Remus, his voice strangled. 'What's –'

But he didn't have time to end his phrase. Another flash of light hit him in the back, and he collapsed at once, in a boneless heap in the snow. Snape let out a scared little noise and James suddenly felt all colour drained from his cheeks.

'Potter?'

This time, there was no irony, nor threat, no spite in Severus' voice. Only fear. Panic. James felt exactly the same sort of terror knitting deep down in his guts.

'They – they're alive, at least, aren't they?' stuttered Snape, his face sallow. He was chatting teeth, and James wasn't quite sure the cold was the only reason for that. But he had other things on his mind right now. He leaned down, trembling slightly, and felt Remus's pulse: just like Sirius, he was unconscious, but alive.

'Yes, they are, but I'm completely lost – I don't know how to wake them up, I don't have a clue what's with them …'

James felt a wave of panic as his stomach gave a lurch. Who did this? Why? And how would he do to bring both of them back to the castle? That was quite a fair step and neither of them was light …

He was still wondering as Snape fidgeted nervously, giving a jump each time the snow gave a crackle, and peeking around frightfully. James, feeling extremely jumpy and anxious too, kneeled down next to Sirius and slipped a hand around his waist to lift him up.

'We've got to bring them back,' he barked to Snape who was still shaking. 'Take him and get him up too!' he said, pointing at Remus. 'I can't do it all on my own!'

But Severus didn't have time to obey that order. Or rather James never saw him react to it. All he could hear was a cry from the Forest, the same word, the same low, deep voice – _Stupefy!_ From that very second, everything seemed to happen very fast and very slow at once. He felt Sirius slip from his grip back on earth, heard Snape's terrified scream, then the feeling of everything sinking to darkness and cold took over him as he lost consciousness. 

*~*~*~*~*

As you can see, it _was_ long indeed. Sorry about that. I don't know how long the next one will be, though – so yes, you can have reasons to be afraid. 

Plus I've got uni starting again next week, and it's gonna be no picnic, I guess. But I'll take time to write anyway. Promised! ^_^

Magicismyname: thank you for being so nice … ::blushes:: No, really, I mean it. For your question about the "grey" or "gray" orthography, I use a British self-correction dictionary on my comp, but it's limited – they have never heard of the "Blimey!" I've read many and many times in the Potter books … honestly. Anyway, I think "gray" is the American spelling, and "grey" the British one. See you next chapter! ;o) 

Noelle: I'm glad you like my name; I've taken off the 'é' because it wasn't on some keyboards. So now I guess it sounds "belpheegor" – sort of funny, I think I like it too ;o] Anyway, thanks for your kind words, I'm delighted to hear that I kept you up until 1 o'clock in the morning! But I do hope reading that chapter hasn't taken you that long. I know the "burning eyes" feeling from spending too much time staring at the screen ^_~

Moon: I hope this chapter pleased you – and there's some more to learn in the next! This time, this is it, James has found out about Remus … stay tuned to see more of him! :o]

*~*~*~*

See you all next chapter, and I hope it won't take a whole month to write it :o]

Love from Belphegor~the Weird One!~


	9. A Voice in the Darkness

To Rehanna (Magicismyname) in particular: my dear, I've read on JK's page on SugarQuill about Elizabeth … the three of you were The MoPs on Ezboard at the Registry, right? I'm so sorry, really. I know it's not much, but I send my kindest and dearest thoughts of sympathy to you and Delia – this chapter is for you.

Author's note: Hello, wonderful folks of Fanfiction.Net! I'm so sorry it's taken so long for me to update this story. But even with me writing in each and every places imaginable – in the bus, in the library, even at the uni's restaurant … – writing remains all in all rather difficult, compared with holidays, when I can just sit in front of the computer and write all day long. And this chapter turned out to be far longer than I first thought it'd be – so I've cut it in two. Please forgive me to leave you with another cliffhanger, I had to do it, and hopefully you'll get the next part soon enough. Not in two or three weeks though – I have mid-year exams and so am forced to actually _work_, I'm afraid J :o) But I can promise you that I'll try to get the next chapter ASAP – I can't let characters I love in such a situation for long, don't worry!

**__**

Disclaimer: I own nothing in this chapter, neither do I actually own anything in the rest of the story. Oh well, I do own some little things, like some characters whose personality and all I admit I have created, but as I know nobody's going to read this part, I can skip it and say I own nothing. _I own nothing._ Right? Ok, everybody's left by now … on to the story! :o)

Little P.S.:_ I guess almost everybody's seen _Lord of the Rings_ by now … 'twas just to say that I've already read the books (all three of them) at least three times since Christmas in French, am currently going through the 585th page of the English version (much better, I swear!!) and have just come back from seeing the film a 4th time. 2nd time in English. Aren't I crazy about things I love :o) I might perhaps write an actual _fanfic_ about it someday – many characters are very interesting and I bet are fun to write about – when I have learned more things and read more about Middle-Earth. Perhaps. Someday._ _Not right now anyway … :o)_

And now, at last …

****

Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

__

Chapter 9: A Voice in the Darkness

'Enervate!'

James blinked very quickly, his breathing sharp and irregular, seized by a fear like he'd never known before. _I must move, I must dodge the spell, I must catch up Sirius before he falls down …_ His last thoughts before being hit by the flash of light rushed back to him, so vivid it felt like one single second had passed since. Reality quickly came back to him, manifesting itself through a pain as though he had been rolled over at least a couple of times by the Knight Bus. Every inch of himself hurt and a hideous headache pierced through his skull. He tried to calm down, and struggled to breathe normally again.

'James! _James!_'

As he recognised Sirius' voice – sounding worried and somewhat shaky – he opened his eyes wide, but they only met with darkness. Pitch-black. Panic-stricken, he made an effort to sit up, but he was stopped short by a hand lying on his shoulder.

'Hey, calm down, James, stay lying down. It's better, I think.'

'Sirius?' James stammered. 'Can't see anything – black everywhere – am I –'

'You're not, Jamsie, you're not blind,' said Sirius as if he had just read his thoughts. 'I wondered that too. It's pitch-dark here, but you'll get used a bit after a while.'

His voice, though sounding less worried, was low, as though he was afraid that someone could hear him. James blinked again in the general direction of his friend's voice, trying to focus through the darkness – and dismiss his headache. In vain. He gave up and began to look around for something resembling a ray of light, his eyes wide in the dark. There was one, faint and thin, somewhere on the right. James felt a bit reassured as he gazed along it; then his eyes fell on a form slumped on the ground right next to him, a form that looked remarkably familiar and lay completely still …

'Remus! Is he –'

'He's alive,' Sirius cut. 'In fact he's just in the same state as you were in two minutes ago. And I guess I was in that state as well –' he checked his watch in the faint ray of light '– ten minutes ago. I don't know what woke me up, but I guess it was the same thing as you – that weird voice coming from I don't know where.'

James's eyes were slowly getting used to the dark. He could now make out that someone had laid a sort of blanket over Remus, to keep him from the cold. He could also see that Sirius didn't wear his winter cloak as the latter rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and sighed, his voice a bit hoarser, 'Never thought it'd seem so long, ten minutes.'

James sat up on his elbows; Sirius helped him lean against the rough stone wall, icy to the touch. His headache rushed back with a vengeance.

'…Thanks, Sirius. Aren't you cold without your cloak on?'

'Nah,' Sirius shrugged, 'I've run around this room three or four times – keeps you warm, I'm telling you. He's more in need of it than me,' he added with a nod in Remus's general direction. James nodded, allowing a slight smile to dawn on his face. Then a thought crossed his mind.

'Tell me – where's Snape? Isn't he here too?'

'Nope,' said Sirius grimly as he sat down between James and Remus's unmoving form. 'I've looked in every corner, but I didn't see him.'

'D'you reckon – d'you reckon something's happened to him?'

'I don't know, I got knocked out first, remember? Did _you_ see anything?'

'I only heard that word – _Stupefy_ – must be the formula of the spell. Maybe Remus knows it,' added James with a worried look at the motionless body slumped against the wall. 'Anyway,' he went on as he rubbed his eyes, 'Snape was still there when I passed out, I clearly remember him screaming. Don't you worry about him?'

'You know, Jamsie, I've got the feeling that wherever he can possibly be right now, it can't be worse than our actual situation, can it?'

'Yeah, if you say so…'

There was a little moment of silence; James realised that Sirius was probably right. They were locked up in a sort of dark basement, it was perishing, and Remus was still out cold, which meant that they were only two to defend themselves. Against what or whom, James had no clue.

He found himself wishing Snape were here. At least maybe things would look a bit less gloomy if there were someone to bicker with …

'Sirius?'

'Yeah?'

'The one who – let's say knocked us out – it was the same voice that made us come round, wasn't it?'

'A low, rather loud sort of voice, sounding as if it were coming from the bottom of a well?'

'Exactly. I think it was the same guy. But still – knocking us out and them reviving us – it doesn't make any sense… D'you think he's still in here?'

'I think so; I didn't hear or see any door open so far. He can't have got out.'

'Maybe he Disapparated?' suggested James. 

Sirius shook his head, 'Nah, you always hear a popping sort of sound when someone Disapparates. I didn't hear anything of the kind.'

James peered across the room, but failed to make out anything.

'It's absurd. Why would somebody bother to do that – wake us up one by one a few minutes apart and watch us meanwhile?'

He realised that he was speaking as low as Sirius, though. As if he, too, were afraid of somebody lurking in the dark, listening to their conversation for some obscure reason –

'I don't know that, Jamsie … but what I'm sure of is that we're not alone in this room. There's somebody here with us, and I'd give anything to know who it is.'

As if on cue, the low voice came from somewhere in the back of the chamber. It repeated the same word, "_Enervate!_" and Remus, still unmoving, let out a muffled moan. Sirius immediately sat down by his friend and James turned to him.

'Remus? Are you all right?'

Remus didn't say anything for a couple of seconds, long enough to collect his thoughts, supposed James. Then he opened his eyes, and said in a somewhat weak voice, 'Where – where on Earth are we?'

'Slow down, Rem, don't move,' said James worriedly. _The full moon's only two nights away, he's surely not feeling too good right now…_

'I'm fine, thanks – just a bit dizzy. D'you know what we're doing here?' He was still whispering, but his voice was gradually steadying.

'We don't know where we are,' said Sirius in a low voice. 'Apart from a "creepy dark place", I mean. But I have no idea what we're doing here.'

He cast his eyes toward the back of the room, where the voice had come from. James looked in that general direction too, then turned to Remus again to ask, 'Maybe you'll know that, Rem – which spell is "_Stupefy_" the formula for?'

Remus's eyes widened, 'It was that? Stupid me, I should've thought of that earlier… It's the Stunning Charm, and the counter-spell is "_Enervate_".

Sirius gave a quiet chuckle.

'You can count on our walking encyclopaedia to enlighten us. It's good to have you back, Rem.'

Remus gave his quiet sort of smile as he noticed the relief tingeing his friend's voice. James only gave a strained smile, still feeling a bit nervous. Being able to put a name on the spell which had taken them down one by one didn't make up for a ticket out, but that was something already. As a result, James was under the weird impression that the chamber wasn't quite as dark as it seemed before.

'Somebody Stunned us,' muttered Remus as he sat up a little. 'But why? This is just crazy –'

He trailed off suddenly and peered around keenly, as if looking for something. Or rather someone.

'Where's Severus? He was with you, James, if I remember right …'

'You do, Remus,' said Sirius. 'But he's not here.'

Remus frowned; James was certain to see the beginning of worry flicker in the blue grey eyes shining through the dark.

'Where d'you think he is?'

'I have no idea,' said James. A short, rather tense sort of silence followed as the three of them let their imaginations come up with some sort of answer to Remus's question. In the best of cases Snape had got off it by so fast a run that their mysterious attacker hadn't had time to react – but that was totally improbable. Now, in the worst of cases … well, two solutions occurred to them, the least logical involving Snape locked up in another dungeon – for they were obviously in a sort of dungeon. The most likely was that their assailant had just killed him, or else Stunned and left him in the snow, which came to the same thing.

Despite Sirius's earlier remark, and despite all his antipathy towards Snape, James couldn't help but feel a little concerned about him. He hadn't any liking towards the Slytherin boy, all the contrary – he hated him heartily – but he had never, ever wished him to _die_. Much as James would have loved hexing Snape with a Log-Legged or a Furonculus Curse, it didn't go any further. 

'Wish I had my wand,' murmured Remus who had been searching thoroughly through his pockets in the silence that followed James's words. James gave a little start as he realised after a brief search that he, too, had been deprived of his eleven inches of mahogany wood. And, judging by what he could see of Sirius's face, and above all by the curse grumbled between gritted teeth from Sirius's general direction, Remus and James's wands weren't the only ones missing.

James thrust his frozen hands in his pockets in an attempt to both warm them up and dismiss the current odd feeling digging a hole through his stomach. His wand had only belonged to him for four months now, but still he felt strangely naked and helpless now it had been taken away from him. As if not having his wand anymore had robbed him of not only protection, but also any _probability_ of defence. 

After all, they were but three rather skinny eleven-year-olds, and even if Sirius and himself were tall enough for their age, he knew quite well that they didn't stand any chance against adults, let alone fully-fledged wizards surely capable of much more than Stunning four boys without a second thought …

Fortunately, there still was the agate left. The black and white little stone lying safely in its skin-bag, in which James eventually saw a sort of charm, a talisman to protect him against all that the world could throw at him … He felt for it in the chest pocket of his robes.

_The agate …_

'Oy,' James stammered in a shaky voice, drawing the attention of his two friends both by his strangled exclamation and the search more and more frantic in every pocket he could remember of, 'the agate … the agate …'

'What of "the agate, the agate"?' asked Sirius briskly, although he could guess the nature of the problem as a look of pure horror dawned on James's face. Remus edged closer.

'It's been stolen,' James finally uttered. It's gone from my pocket, and for that the Strong-Glue Spell I'd put on it had to be withdrawn … it can't have fallen over –'

'At last, Mr Potter,' said a low, grating sort of voice from somewhere in the pitch-black room. 'I was wondering how much time it'd take you to realise.'

* * *

Lily was forced to admit it, even if it really annoyed her sometimes – especially now: you could grow bored very easily when the Fiendish Foursome wasn't around. It was true, of course, that she had never seen the common room so calm before, with such a studious atmosphere – but it was deadly boring. Mundungus Fletcher had previously lightened the general mood by taking out of its cupboard again the Christmas present he had made for his fellow Gryffindors – a huge stuffed lion bewitched to sing in a high, falsetto voice:

_Long live Hogwarts! I must confess_

I've never seen before such an enchanting place.

The students, one can note, are quite keen in all classes

When the bell rings one over, they never fail to notice!

The teachers are all fair and give us points galore 

Allow me to introduce you to a few

Of them; they could use a present after all

Since – remember – it's Christmas for them too!

We have Rowena Walsh, Mistress of Potions

You sure don't want to know what's cooking in her cauldrons.

No need for Professor Binns to try and hide anything;

Not that he would, but we can see right through him.

Lady Minerva is stern but fair, and not bad to look at

I can now stay awake in Transfiguration – yeah, couldn't before that!

Rebus Ricochet is soon to retire, as we all know

Dark Arts, beware! His back seems better now!

Professor Flitwick, I didn't see you coming!

I'll shut the window, or you'll ride on the wind (Literally.)

And then, last but not least, Albus Dumbledore

Esteemed Headmaster, the greatest of them all

He's got loads of books, fame, and magic galore

But how many of you know that his socks have holes?

Merry Christmas to you, fellow students and teachers,

Fletch bids you lots of fun for the on-coming years!

Of course, the whole common room had roared with laughter, and, emboldened by his Christmas success, Mundungus had brought his singing stuffed lion at diner the night before. The teachers sitting at the High Table had reacted in quite different ways. McGonagall had frowned very slightly, but had eventually seemed rather flattered. Ricochet had barely took in one word out of three; he had nodded solemnly at Dumbledore, appearing to think that the lion's song was some sort of sung congratulatory speech. Flitwick had looked a bit reluctant at first, but he had quickly surrendered and chuckled along with the students. Dumbledore had flicked a smile at Fletcher, his blue eyes twinkling, and had congratulated him for being so imaginative. Walsh, on the other hand, had not liked it _at all_. She had really looked furious about the insolence, her lips pursed up and her eyes narrowed, and it had only worsened when McGonagall turned to her with a broad, sarcastic smile, 'It was _humorous_, Rowena.' Walsh had shot her a mortal glare.

However, she finally got her revenge. About an hour after Lily had seen Remus, Sirius, and James head towards the library, Mundungus had taken his singing lion again. He had had the Gryffindor common room enjoy it again, then had left with it, thinking about how good a prank he could pull on the Slytherins with it. The problem was that Peeves the poltergeist had found there a great idea for both pestering Adams and messing things up. So he had grabbed the stuffed lion, and zoomed away with his usual unbearable triumphant cackles. Mundungus didn't care at all about tranquillity and order within the castle, but Peeves stealing something that belonged to him really infuriated him. He had darted after the poltergeist who was squealing with delight at the mayhem he had caused.

Unfortunately, Fletcher then had been unlucky enough to run into – no Adams, as he might have feared, but into Walsh. It hadn't been any sort of improvement – far from. Delighted to catch Mundungus in the middle of mischief-making – and in the meantime to get to him for his "insolence" – Walsh confiscated the stuffed animal and took fifteen points from Gryffindor. The Great Mundungus Fletcher then returned to his common room, his head hanging low in defeat.

Lily didn't quite know what to think of him as she watched him over the top of the book she was trying to finish. If Sirius could see his hero right now … Mundungus looked quite subdued, curled up in a tight fisted ball in a comfy armchair as he tried to transfigure a little horseshoe – _must be one of his Christmas presents_, thought Lily who had learnt quite early not to wonder at Fletcher's ways of killing time – into a miniature lavatory seat. His dark, curly hair fell in his brown eyes from which the laughing light seemed gone, and his brows were furrowed in deep concentration. He looked a bit different this way, thoughtful, vaguely sad even. It was strange, almost eerie to see him look so serious, compared to the usual rather noisy attitude that was his ordinarily. 

Deep down, Lily couldn't help but pity him a bit. During the first two months – and, according to older students, during the first two years as well – Fletch had seemed to enjoy a wondrous luck, never failing to escape Adams and every form of authority without any apparent effort. _He must have some sort of secret_, Lily thought. He _must_ have had something. And the numerous efforts he now shown in the achievement of a prank which would probably have appeared dead easy to him just a few weeks ago made it clear that he must have lost this secret.

Urged by curiosity as much as by the will to help, Lily shut down her book and walked to him.

'Mundungus?'

Mundungus guessed the identity of the person who was speaking to him, without needing to look up or even recognise the voice. Lily Evans was one of the very few to address him with his whole first name. Many just said "you" and his friends called him "Fletch", but not little Lily. He raised his head and flicked up a smile at the freckled, rather chubby face framed by long, untidy dark red hair.

'What, Lily? You're worried about the points I lost? Don't, there's not that many of them –'

'Nah, Mundungus, it's not that. Er …'

Now that she was standing in front of him without having thought for a second about the question she would ask, Lily felt quite silly. Fletcher noticed, and his grin widened, slightly mocking.

'What's up, Pretty Lily Flower? What d'you want to tell me?'

_Pretty Lily Flower_ … even her seventy-year-old, five-years-dead neighbour had never come up with such a thing. Lily would have loved to come up with a good acid comment. But it wasn't the case, so she said abruptly, 'What's bugging you?'

Mundungus wasn't expecting that one. He raised his eyebrows questioningly. 'What makes you think something's bothering me?' he asked, a little defensively. Lily felt a sudden need to look down at her feet or run to hide in a corner – but she fought it back and, instead, planted her green eyes in Fletcher's in a way she wanted to be serious and scrutinising. 

'You can afford the luxury of pestering Adams anonymously for two years and now, suddenly, you get caught anytime, you amass blunders and awkwardness, one couldn't even count how many detentions you've got yourself in two months … I can have been here for only four months, but I can feel when something's wrong.'

She leaned to take a closer look at him, and was relieved to feel that her cheeks weren't flushing pink. 'What's bugging you?' she repeated. 

Mundungus shifted in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. He peeked around, as if to check if someone wasn't listening, then leaned forward. 'Can you keep a secret?'

'Of course, Lily said, shrugging. How many times did one of her schoolmates had entrusted her with the most important secret in the world, and made her swear not to tell anybody? However, she felt that the secret Mundungus was about to tell her had nothing to do with a schoolgirl's crush. She stepped closer.

At that point, the door of the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories burst open and Vega strode – almost ran – into the common room with a curious smile on her face. Her long black hair, artistically done for once, were floating lightly on her shoulders, and her robes looked impeccable, perfectly ironed. Lily raised her eyebrows in surprise. Vega usually didn't take so much care over her appearance.

'Going out, Vega?' she asked. Vega turned on her heels and noticed her and Fletcher's presence. 

'Er – yes,' said Vega, looking very straight in her black robes and winter cloak. 'I'm going out – up – in the Astronomy Tower, Sinistra set us an essay to do, about –'

'About Astronomy?' cut in Mundungus who, for some reason unknown of Lily, seemed to be having a lot of fun.

'That's quite right, about Astronomy,' said Vega curtly. 'And I must go and check something about the pocket Solar System up there.'

'But Vega, you do as you wish,' sneaked Mundungus with a sly smile. 'You don't have to justify yourself.'

The black-haired girl's cheeks went slightly pink under her light make-up. The smile on Mundungus' face, merciless, widened.

'You're perfectly right, Fletcher,' said Vega coldly. 'I don't have to justify myself. Least of all toward you.'

And she walked away quite stiffly. Before she was out of earshot though, Lily got time to shout at her, 'Oy, wait! If you come across James and Sirius and Remus, could you tell them to give me some news? Been sticking around in the common room for two hours or so …'

Vega barely stopped to mutter, 'Hm, hmm. Where do I have a chance to find the three of these guys?'

'Last time I saw them,' answered Lily, 'they were heading for the library but they were talking about going to see Hagrid just after that – I let them go but then I realised I should've come with them, I've got a Christmas present for Hagrid …'

'You don't know?' Vega said, surprised, as she turned completely this time to face Lily and Mundungus. 'Hagrid isn't there. He left at noon to check over the snares in the Forbidden Forest. He'll probably be back tonight,' she added with a slight smile, 'with a dead weasel in one hand and a bag full of live lizards in the other, for Walsh's experiments. Wouldn't be the first time.'

_Eurgh_, Lily thought. _Funny how some downright loveable people can do absolutely revolting things._

'But then,' said Mundungus frowning, 'were are they? Still at the library?'

'I don't think so,' said Lily. 'It was only to hand in some book Remus had borrowed. I don't reckon they'd stay two whole hours in there. But we can always try,' she added as she rushed away from Mundungus' armchair and walked through the portrait of the Fat Lady before Vega. Seized by a start of worry caused by some odd sort of feeling – you can never know, with those three – she had completely forgotten about the secret Mundungus was about to tell her.

Mundungus, left alone, gave a sigh; he took a Cauldron Cake in one of his pockets and took again his wand and the tiny toilet seat he had got.

_What if I made it in white China with little blue flowers on it?_

* * *

At the sound of that voice – the same both deep and cold voice that revived them one by one – Sirius and James leaped on their feet. Half a second later, Remus stood up between the two of them, peering through the dark to try and know where this voice came. It was of no use. Save the three boys, the room seemed empty.

'You have stolen our agate?' asked James in a voice which he fought to keep strong and steady. 'Why did you take us? Who are you?'

'That makes a lot of questions at once, young Mr Potter,' the Voice sniggered. 'Which one shall I begin with? Let's see –'

'_Show yourself!_' Sirius suddenly yelled in a strange voice, startling Remus already jangled-nerved. Looking at his dark-haired friend, James noticed – in the dark which he was starting to get used to – that his fists were clenched so tight that the nails must be digging into the palms of his hands. He was a bit surprised, and half frightened to see Sirius so very lose control. 

Apparently, the Voice was a bit taken aback as well by this sudden burst. When it spoke again, James had the impression that the invisible face had turned to Sirius.

'Claustrophobic, Mr Black? Don't be afraid, this won't last long – not too long.'

'Why wake us up one by one?' asked Remus.

'Good question, Mr Lupin. First, a simple practical matter – I couldn't say the formula three times at once, could I?'

_He's alone in here_, James deduced. 

'And above all, I was curious to see how you would react, the three of you … quite interesting to watch. Let me tell you that I find you kids rather brave for your age.'

_Good for him he thinks so_, thought James. He felt a sort of big hole through his stomach and his heart was beating wildly against his ribs, like a bird bumping blindly against the bars of his cage in its vain attempts to escape. He bit hard on his lower lip as he realised he was downright terrified. He would have given everything to be back in their common room, with Lily chirping on about some Charms homework, Remus chewing on a Chocolate Frog, his face thoughtful and his eyes laughing, and Sirius playing for the hundredth time some tune on his guitar, in order to "settle it down in his fingers", like he said. James now knew by heart songs such as _Like a Rolling Stone_, _Yesterday_, and _The Sound of Silence_, songs which Sirius loved and which he could strum again and again, adding a chord somewhere, spangling it with delicate arpeggios – or simply because he had hit a false note. Sirius had the knack for exasperating James with that guitar mania of his. But right now, his friend's umpteenth interpretation of _A Hard Day's Night_ would have sounded like a Phoenix's song to James.

'Why is this agate so important for you?' asked Remus, speaking for the second time. His voice was shivering very slightly, probably with fear, though James could discern a kind of underlying determined sort of curiosity. And thinking hard, under the cold blanket of fear and anticipation that wrapped him up from head to toe, he found that determined sort of curiosity within himself as well. How on Earth could a mere stone be worth a triple kidnapping? 

'Again, quite an interesting question from you, Mr Lupin,' said the Voice, sounding as if it had turned to Remus. 'Unfortunately enough, I can offer to you but an incomplete answer. This is not by any means your business, you see.'

'If it's the reason why you kidnapped us,' retorted Sirius who seemed to have regained a bit of strength, 'the least you can do would be to explain a strict minimum, wouldn't it?'

James could feel in Sirius's voice and way of standing – less stiff, with his head raised up a little bit more – that his friend was gradually regaining his usual countenance. Was that rue bravery or mere instinct of sarcasm, whatever – it was something. Where there's life, there's hope, here was what this attitude seemed to be saying. A tiny light of optimism began to dawn in James's mind.

'This agate, youngsters, happens to be far more important to me than it could ever be to you,' the Voice went on. 'It is valuable to me and me alone. What is it, for you? Spoils of war? A gift?'

'My sister gave it to me!' said Sirius very quickly. Remus's eyes widened slightly and James almost gave a start. He had absolutely no idea why Sirius had said such a thing. But if the latter happened to have a plan – although quite improbable a thought it was – the least of things to do would be to blow up his cover with an astonished exclamation. 

A little silence ensued, in which none of the boys even flickered an eyelid. The Voice then said, in a rather odd tone, 'Yes. Right.' Then added – and James was sure it was uttered with a slightly ironic smile, 'I almost believed you, boy.'

Discreetly, Remus glanced questioningly at Sirius, but the clear blue eyes didn't reveal anything.

'Very well,' said the Voice, 'I must leave. It was a delight talking to you young people, but duty calls. I'll be back in a short time, however.'

'Wait!' said James. 'What about Snape? I mean, the other boy who was with us, what did you do with him?'

'Oh, him? I knocked him out the Muggle way and left him where I had found him. It was only the three of you that was interesting to me, and I couldn't afford to unnecessarily burden myself. I try and avoid having myself noticed the best I can, you see. A little Memory Charm and he completely forgot why he had come around there – and forgot about your mere presence there as well, my poor friends.'

'What have you lead him believe?' asked Remus, frowning.

'Only that he wanted to go and see if the owner of that little cabin near the Forest was home. Quite simple, isn't it?' The Voice let out a chuckle, then a curt and short "I'll be seeing you later". The three boys heard a distinct sort of popping noise. This time, they were truly alone in the chamber.

James turned to Sirius, 'Are you all right?' he asked, a little worried, thinking back about the shiver he could hear earlier in Sirius's voice. Sirius nodded, but when he answered, his voice was hoarser than usual.

'I'm fine, Jamsie, thanks. Sorry to have lost it like that, it's just that – the thing is – I mean, I don't like being locked up, that's all.'

Remus nodded without saying anything. James sat back down, and the others soon did the same. The floor was still as cold, and he still felt that sort of hole digging in his stomach.

'Sirius, why did you said that Vega gave you the agate?' asked Remus after a while. It was one of the questions that bugged James; he turned his head to his friend sitting cross-legged beside them.

'I just wanted to see what it'd do,' said Sirius, still in that weird, hoarse sort of voice. 'D'you reckon he knew where the agate was before arriving into your pocket, Jamsie?'

'I think so, otherwise he couldn't have followed the thread up to us – I mean, of all people in Hogwarts, staff and students, chose _us_ …'

'I've already told you 'bout that, Jamsie,' muttered Sirius. 'He is _in_side the school and he's watching us. Day after day.'

'How could that be possible, Sirius?' said Remus sceptically. 'Dumbledore only hires the most trustworthy people in his staff, people that –'

'Yeah, yeah, so I've been told,' Sirius cut him off, 'but still Walsh seems to be constantly thinking about murdering a student or two and Adams looks like a vampire. And a clap in the back would be enough for that poor Ricochet to drop dead instantly. So excuse, M'ster, but a better staff could easily be found anywhere …'

Remus appeared slightly offended that Sirius criticised his hero. As for James, he let out a small laugh. It was true that Hogwarts wasn't quite the average, perfect school your parents would dream of. The first time James had heard about Albus Dumbledore had been the year before the latter's appointment as Headmaster, about two years ago. James remembered it well – it had happened at a time of quite rare an occasion: a breakfast shared with _both_ his mother and father. He could recall his father's low and a bit distant voice as he read the article from the _Daily Prophet_, stopping now and then to take a mouthful of toast or a sip of tea, or else just to make a comment.

"Let us see this … _"Armando Dippet, Headmaster of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry since 1917 may not return next year to the old castle that has been his for so long."_ It is true that he has stayed at Hogwarts for quite long a time … I think my father must have been less than ten years when he was appointed a teacher there. _"Indeed, it is reported that the dean of the famous wizarding school may have decided to retire at the next September start-of-term, which would conclude a long and successful career of seventy-four years of teaching."_ This muffin has way too much sugar in it, Elisabeth. The kitchen elves shall have to be thrashed. _"More or less well-founded rumours state that the present Transfiguration teacher, Albus Dumbledore, might be the best candidate for the soon-to-be vacant post. It is of no need to remind our readers that Professor Dumbledore, eminently respected wizard whom everyone appreciate, has notably stood up in the last Wizarding World War by his bravery, his wisdom, and his determination at defeating the terrible Dark Wizard Grindelwald, of evil memory."_ I have known the war, James –"

James had given a start as he heard his father speak to him directly.

"– And I am in position to tell you that it moulds one's character. _"Are such rumours well-founded? Dumbledore definitely has enough personal and magical aura, as much as presence, to successfully take the torch from Professor Dippet, but will he know how to handle Hogwarts as well as he handles his classes?"_ So it is Dumbledore who stands the best chances … I'm not surprised. Listen carefully, son. If, Merlin hears me! you are to enter Hogwarts in two years, I want you to watch out. The man is quite good, the best of all – everything they say in here is true; besides, Dumbledore is a very powerful wizard – he has defeated Grindelwald, one must not forget that – but he is an _eccentric_. And a wizard with such a calibre should not allow himself to be _eccentric_. It's _not_ serious. Do you understand me?"

How far his father's recommendation seemed now! James had now his own opinion made about Albus Dumbledore. And it had even improved for the last two days – a man, a wizard who'd give someone like Remus a chance, even being eccentric, deserved full respect.

_Remus_ …

Wholly taken in the whirl of the last events, James had totally forgotten about his friend's lycanthropy. It wasn't something you could forget about like that though – no, it seemed instead that James had unknowingly shaken the thought away, in order to concentrate on his immediate worries. After all, the full moon was two nights away, they were in no danger – and the only thing to worry about Remus was to know whether the Stunning Charm had had after-effects or not, given his physical condition of the moment. And yet …

Yet James was dying to tell Remus that he knew – that he knew his secret and would keep it for himself. Even only to lift one worry from his friend's mind, at least one … well, the moment wasn't quite well chosen to do so anyway. If only they had been alone, if it had only been the two of them, then James could have spoken without feeling too much stupid – but then, there was Sirius. Sirius who didn't know, and who couldn't just be asked away to the other side of the room to not hear the conversation … he'd feel shun off. _Which he'd be, in a certain way_, thought James. _You can't watch your two closest friends whisper to each other about secrets you don't have a clue about without feeling so. Mind, we can always let him know some day or another. Although …_

James racked his brains for quite a while. Then, finally, he took a decision. _Whatever_, he told himself, _Sirius is smart enough to know when it gets important, isn't he ?_ However he was not even half convinced as he turned to Remus who was talking with Sirius about the improbability (or not) of a spy lurking inside the school.

'Remus? Can I have a word, please?'

'Of course,' said Remus as he turned to him, breaking off his conversation with Sirius. A sense of déjà vu crept into James's brain.

'Er … I'd rather be alone with you to do so.'

_And it goes on – story repeating itself …_

'So what do _I_ do?' asked Sirius, raising an eyebrow. James felt his cheeks burn.

'I'm sorry, but it's between Remus and me. Could you walk away a bit, please?'

_Oh, Sirius … forgive me, Sirius …_

Sirius looked at him oddly for a second. James was almost sure he felt hurt somehow – but this impression might be only an effect of his own paranoia. Or his culprit feelings. Sirius didn't ask any question though; he just got on his feet and went to sit against the wall on the other side of the chamber, completely hidden by darkness. Remus shot a puzzled look at James. 

'Look, Rem …'

James dropped his voice to a whisper. He didn't want Sirius to hear him for anything in the world. 

'You … well, let's finish with it. I've understood what we hadn't understood a month ago, Sirius and me. I've understood – I know what happens to you each month, Remus.'

Remus didn't move an inch. But he did turn quite pale.

'How – how did you guess?'

'By establishing a link between your absences and the full moon. You've missed two assignments Sinistra set us to do because the moon was too bright for us to see anything properly … because the moon was full … and each time you would come back looking much more ill than you did when you left. Two and two are four. You are –'

'You're a werewolf,' said a muffled voice from the back of the room. James choked up and Remus let out a strangled noise. This time, he was downright livid.

'Sirius?' James finally stuttered, his eyes bulging. 'Sirius – you knew?'

'Yeah, James, I _knew_,' said Sirius's voice, sounding too much solemn not to be mocking. Only his eyes could be seen shining through the dark. 'I'm not blind at all, and I'm quite observant, too, as you may have noticed.'

'But – but how long have you –?'

'Known? Oh, must've been a couple of weeks …'

Remus took a step back, then another, slowly, feeling in the dark for something he could lean on. He leaned against the stone wall when he found it, and silently slipped down to a sitting position, his face white. Then he wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his head between his arms, shivering. But neither James nor Sirius noticed, busy as they were with their fight.

'But why haven't you told me before?' asked an astonished James to Sirius. 'I only worked it out the day before yesterday!'

'In that case, why didn't _you_ tell me then?' Sirius retorted. 'Since you thought that I didn't know, why didn't you tell me? It was supposed to be _the two of us!_'

'I – I thought that it may be better not to let a lot of people know,' James defended himself rather lamely. 'It's quite important, a secret like that – and then I feared … I thought that maybe –'

'– Maybe I'd rush away crying "Wolf!" and drop Remus like a hot potato? You don't know me at all, mate. I'm not in this Judas business – _I'm not like that._'

'Neither am I!' exclaimed James bitterly, without even pausing to think about who was that Judas and what he had done. 'I'm not like that either! To prove it – I didn't even tell _you_! Did you really believe that if you told me, I would turn him in, tell everybody? I'm quite disappointed in you, Sirius. I really am.'

In the short silence that followed, the situation reversed: now Sirius was the one who appeared uneasy. He looked down at his feet for a second, then lifted up his head and stared at James straight in the eye.

'Listen, James. For me it seemed obvious I shouldn't tell anyone – you, along with Remus, Lily, and even little Peter, you are the first true pals I remember having. You most likely don't know what it's like to be considered as "the freak" of the school, the one you'd better avoid – it _was_ kind of cool most of the time, but at times it'd become really hard. So when I found out, about Remus, I preferred to keep it quiet, because I did like the way things have gone since September. Then it's not really the sort of thing you can shrug off, like, you know, saying "Oh my God! But you're a werewolf!" ' – he said that in a fake high-pitched voice – 'and shake it off as if nothing had happened. We're not in a movie, see. I've been spending the last two weeks and a half wondering – should I tell someone? You? Remus? How would he had reacted? And you? Well, it's true that you can be so superstitious sometimes about some things, I didn't know at all how you would react …

"The other day, when Rem was at the hospital wing and you in this armchair thinking about I don't know what, I was agonising for the umpteenth time about saying it or not – was it the good moment to turn to you and say "By the way, d'you know why Remus goes missing each month?" ? Or else run to the hospital wing and say to Remus, "I know the truth about you, but rest easy, your secret's safe with me". For a whole hour I let seconds pass, then minutes, and still I couldn't say anything. And then the occasion slipped away.'

James listened silently, without interrupting Sirius once. Not that he didn't mean to, especially at first – but he was realising gradually that all that Sirius said applied to him as well. Every reason he gave, every hesitation – they had all been James's for two days.

Besides, deep down, James was rather proud of Sirius. Sirius could be sarcastic, pig-headed, vindictive, not serious, insufferably self-confident sometimes, but his heart was in the right place. Just like Sirius was the first true friend James ever had, James now knew that he had been Sirius's first true friend too, and was quite happy about it. Plus it was stupid to blame Sirius for something he had done too … wasn't it? And above all, it was for Remus. So, when Sirius ended his speech with a bit hesitant "Ok, I did something stupid, but you did it too – let's not make more fuss over it, shall we? Especially since we'll do way more stupid things in life", James gave a smile, and nodded in his direction.

'You're absolutely right on that one, Sirius. We've got time left to do blunders, besides the adults do enough of them like that – don't they, Rem?'

James had just realised – with a little shame – that he had stopped paying attention to Remus once Sirius had begun speaking. _What kind of morons are we?_ he wondered as he turned from Sirius and peered through the darkness. _Isn't it idiot, us bickering while he must be in a state … where is he, by the way?_ He finally found him: Remus hadn't moved at all. He was curled up tightly in his dark corner, his chin on his knees. James gave a shudder at his frighteningly empty gaze. 

'Hey, Remus?'

Sirius had almost whispered, in order to awaken him gently from his odd, trance-like sort of state. But it appeared as though Remus had not heard anything at all. His face, chalk-white in the tiny ray of light, seemed engraved in marble.

'Blimey, Rem, what's –'

But Sirius broke off when the bluish lips began to move. James and Sirius pricked up their ears to catch the bare whisper that came out.

'I knew it,' Remus breathed shakily. 'I just knew it'd end like this.' 

His staring, wide open eyes seemed huge. James frowned.

'What, Rem? What would end like this?'

'I have got it each time,' said Remus, his eyes still vacant and unblinking. Only his lips were moving. 'Each and every time. I should have known … it always goes like this, why should it have been different this time …'

'Hasn't he heard anything we said?' whispered Sirius to James. James shook his head. It seemed that Remus had shut himself down completely right from the start of their conversation. Literally speaking.

'Of course it _is_ different now,' said Sirius gently but firmly as he put his hands on Remus's knees to make him look up at him and bring him back to reality. 'I don't have a clue about how rough a time it's been so far, though I can guess it must've been tough, but I can tell you we're here and we mean to stay. Ditto for Jamsie here.'

'Yeah,' said James in approval. 'It's not because you're, let's say – different – once a month that it doesn't make you someone great! You're a heck of a person, and you fully deserve to have friends – there isn't any law against that, is there?'

James had spoken in a bit sharp voice, meant to stir his friend a little, and was glad to see the huge, seemingly lifeless blue grey eyes meet his own expectant gaze. He added straight after, with a smile beginning to play on his lips, 'Besides, even if there did exist such a law – I wouldn't give a damn about it.'

Remus blinked. It appeared as though he was awaking from a deep state of hypnosis. After a moment's silence which seemed endless, during which his eyes slowly moved from James to Sirius and from Sirius to James, he whispered in a very small voice, 'You … you mean … you mean you still want to be friends with me?'

His small, strangled voice made him look distinctly younger and his wide eyes strengthened the impression. James felt that this whisper was a real cry from the heart. As for Sirius, his sudden grin lit up a bit of their usual fire back in his eyes.

'It takes much more than that to get rid of us, mate. But that was a good try, I must say.'

'You'll have to bear with us for at least seven years non-stop,' said James in the same tone, 'because we're _not_ letting you down. _Ne-ver_.'

And he detached clearly the syllables.

As Sirius' and James's words sank in, some of their usual liveliness slowly crept back into the blue-grey eyes; Remus slowly raised his chin off his knees and sat normally, beginning to relax. He was blinking quickly, and now James could see why his eyes had seemed so large the previous moments – they were shining with tears in the light of the thin grey ray falling down from somewhere in the right. 

'I – I don't know what to say,' he finally uttered slowly, a slight smile stirring his pale features. 'Nobody's ever done that for me before, really I … you are … '

He trailed off and wiped his eyes with a small, strangled sort of laugh, still shaky, as if apologising. 

'I'm sorry I've broken down like that – pathetic, that was, honestly – I do everything not to collapse, and usually it works – but right now …'

'Don't, Rem, you really don't have to feel sorry about that,' said James, relieved to see his friend get back to his normal state. 'It's totally normal to be afraid …'

'Especially about something so serious,' added Sirius. 'Tell me, when you said nobody's ever done that for you before, what d'you mean exactly by that?'

'Well,' said Remus as he sat up and dried his eyes for good, 'it's not that easy to keep that sort of secret hidden around you, especially in the wizarding community – we would move in and out now and then – the only primary school where they didn't find out about me was where I met Severus, and I spent only two years there. Finally, last time we moved in, my mum preferred to take me every day at a retired old teacher's who lived a couple of houses from us – he was so glad to have a pupil again that he never wondered why I always went missing once a month. He was so nice.'

'You had school at home?' said Sirius, his eyes widening. 'You lucky dog!'

Remus gave a smile. 'At home, well, sort of – we didn't have the choice then anyway. Until two years ago I was practically certain I'd never make it into Hogwarts – be allowed to enter the school, I mean.' His eyes were suddenly over-bright. 'You have no idea how happy I was when I got my Hogwarts letter.'

'I think I can imagine,' laughed James softly. 'Just by the tone of your voice.'

'What about the staff?' Sirius cut in. 'Do the teachers know?'

'Dumbledore does – and so does Madam Pomfrey, of course. Save them, only McGonagall knows – Dumbledore had told me before that he'd speak to the Head of my House straight after the Sorting Ceremony, whichever that House would turn out to be.'

'And …' James hesitated a bit. 'Where d'you go during – during your transformations?'

Remus lowered his voice. 'Do you know Hogsmeade?' 

'A bit,' answered James who had never been there yet.

'Vaguely,' said Sirius – actually Vega had told him about that village, but she had so often that he didn't even bother to listen now.

'There is an old house, a bit aside from the edge of the village, called the Shrieking Shack.'

'Ah!' cried Sirius, suddenly snapping his fingers. Remus broke off to look at him, waiting for whatever would come next; so did James. But Sirius only scratched the top of his head and muttered, 'Heard of it. Go on, Rem.'

'Well, there is – but I don't know whether I'm allowed to tell you …'

'C'mon, we won't tell a soul about it. Promised.'

'All right. So there's a secret passage going from under the Whomping Willow, down in the grounds. Actually – actually it's been built for me, to have a safe place where I can transform and not have a chance to hurt anyone – the Willow's been planted for me too.'

'But there's quite some bunch of ghosts right now in the Shrieking Shack!' James exclaimed. 'Vega was telling me about that just the other day – said they'd moved in a short time ago but they already scared everybody away with their screams –'

The two others broke into a fit of giggles. James frowned, looked a each of them in turn, then gave a sigh. 'Ok, I've made a total fool of myself there. Sorry.'

'Not at all, James,' said Remus, trying to keep a straight face – and failing.

Sirius thought for a minute; when he glanced up again, he looked scandalised. 'Wait a bit – I do hope they don't put you in a cage! Because if they do, they'll have me to answer to!'

Remus appeared moved. His cheeks gained a little more colour back.

'The Shack may look about to fall down to pieces, but don't you go trusting appearances. The walls are thick and strong enough to make up for an actual _cage_, with bars and all. Still – still it wouldn't hurt if I were in a cage. After all, I am dangerous.'

James noticed a slight change in his friend's voice: the last words sounded as if they had been veiled by bitterness. This made him feel sad. He didn't know quite well what to answer to that.

'Oy, Rem.'

The blue grey eyes had almost regained their usual expression already when they turned to Sirius, who had just spoken.

'You might be "dangerous" one night a month, but don't you think this night lasts the entire month. You're quite normal a guy most of the time. And besides, you know what? Seriously, I know few who are far weirder than you are on the full moon – on a full-time schedule.'

There was both seriousness and lightness in Sirius's voice, and Remus and James as well didn't know well where to trace the line between the two. Remus just nodded toward his friend, his throat tight. A short silence followed.

'What about Lily, though?' asked James suddenly after a while.

'What of Lily?'

'Well – do we tell her, or not?'

The three boys looked at each other uneasily.

'Er …' Sirius began slowly, 'I don't think it's such a good idea to tell her.'

'I agree with Sirius,' said Remus. 'Dumbledore told me that the less people knew, the safer I'd be.'

'For Peter, I don't say,' James insisted. 'He's not quite brave and he could panic – but would Lily? Well, she's clever, and rather brave – for a girl, I mean – and she's nice. Plus she likes you, Remus.'

Remus's cheeks went distinctly pink, this time appearing their usual colour, the one they held when the moon was new. Then, 'You sound as if you were looking for reasons, James,' he said. 'Really I'd love to tell her – I'd love to be sure of how she'd react – but I can tell you, from the short experience I've had so far, that people's reactions (even people you think you know well) are sometimes unpredictable enough.'

He gave a broad smile, which they clearly made out in the dark. James knew somehow he was saying it thinking about the two of them; although, come to think of it, this was hardly a smiling thought, for it worked the other way around too – lots of people had probably reacted very badly when they learned the truth about Remus. However he was not in the mood for a long introspection and so he pouted, offended about not having the last word on the matter of Lily.

'Oh c'mon, Jamsie,' said Sirius with a shrug. 'Look, here's what I suggest. If she guesses right and in the end comes to talk to us, then we let her on the whole thing. Right, Rem?'

Remus nodded, 'Quite all right.'

'Ok then, Sirius,' James sighed. 'But it still bothers me. I don't like much keeping secrets – I'm always uneasy about hiding something from friends.'

'You know, Jamsie, I had spotted that,' Sirius sneaked in with a sarcastic grin. 'You were hilarious just now back in the castle, all choking and reddening. Sorry to blurt it out like that, but you're the worst liar I ever met.'

James first meant to sulk again, but he couldn't hold back his laughter at Sirius's mock quite straight face. Of course Sirius was exaggerating the thing, James wasn't that bad a liar after all, but – still. Remus began to chuckle, when suddenly they heard a little noise. The noise of an old door creaking as it opened.

Light, so thin and dull that they were not blinded at all, fell from an opening in the left. No form stood out against the rectangle of feeble light, yet the Voice which they immediately recognised sounded in the chamber.

'I hope I did not make you wait too long. Rise, please.'

Puzzled, the three friends stood on their feet, apprehension creeping back into their minds as they did so. They could hear footsteps from outside the chamber, along what seemed to be a corridor, and a large outline appeared, framed in the light through the doorway.

'Follow him,' said the Voice, whose owner still remained invisible. 'And I'd rather warn you right now, trying to act heroic would be downright stupid. Especially with _him_.'

Indeed, as the three boys walked ahead of the tall, strong yet somewhat lean "man" the Voice had appointed for their guide, they noticed the hollowed, empty eyes, the sallow complexion, and the eye-teeth biting very slightly on the lower lip. _A vampire. He's – he's a vampire._ James gulped; he could feel Remus give a shudder next to him. One glance was enough for him to notice that his friend had lost all colour the liveliness of conversation had had his cheeks gain back – yet his eyes remained alert and calm, somehow. _Trust Remus to keep his cool in moments of crisis._

As for Sirius, he was eyeing the creature's mouth with an odd, fix stare. When he turned briefly to James, his eyes seemed to say, "_What the hell are we doing here? This is just insane!_" His eyes widened in apprehension, James just shook his head towards Sirius. His own mind was spinning wildly as well, but it held no answer.

They walked on for a while, along a corridor that seemed deeply dug beneath the ground. The earth the walls were made of, unlike their chamber (the walls of which were made of stone), was cold and wet; the smell that was given off it reminded James strongly of the one that came from the little bags containing Biter food, back in that Herbology class – decomposing flesh. James's stomach gave an unpleasant churn. Then he reported instead his attention on their "jailer".

James was seeing a real vampire for the very first time. In the illustrations from books, vampires were almost always represented with eye-teeth at least twice the average size, razor-sharp, so long that the characters in the pictures could hardly shut their mouths and just stood there, their lips curled up on sharp and bloody teeth, which never failed to make them look rather idiotic. Reality was quite different. The vampire that walked along with them had indeed slightly longer eye-teeth than average, but they could be acknowledged as so only when the mouth was open; it was more the waxy, almost yellow skin (the few torches hanging on the walls were partly responsible for that colouring effect), the hollowed cheeks, and the dead eyes without anything inside save a tiny reddish light deeply set in the pupils that pointed him as a vampire. And his ears seemed to have been cut sharper, for they looked oddly long and pointed. _The number of things we'll be able to tell the others if we get off it alive …_

If only _we get off it alive …_

The thought that they might never see sunlight again came across James's mind; he tried to shove it away with a shiver. _Everything's going to be ok. Everything's going to be ok. Just – calm – down._

But that didn't keep the sharp intake of breath he took to feel painful in his chest. In the books he owned back home, this was always the moment when the invincible hero found himself in a hopeless situation, without his wand, without his broom, without anyone to help him. The moment the reader would flicker hastily through the pages, skipping the descriptions, wondering how their hero was going to escape this time from a situation which was a real golden mine for every event that had even the smallest _probability_ of occurring. The moment that made the reader tell himself or herself _"Anything can happen."_ Absolutely anything, the best and the worst as well.

Point of no return. That was it. James, Sirius, and Remus had reached the "point of no return". The perspective was both very exciting and downright terrifying.

Nevertheless, James would have given everything he owned to turn back time and escape it all.

* * *

'James? Sirius? Remus?'

Lily had arrived at the library, and was now searching every line of shelves to see if they weren't there. They weren't – the vast library seemed empty. Not one student sat at a table or curled up in an armchair with a dusty book in their hands. As she walked along the shelves, the silence was daunting, reminding her of the thick silence at Mr Ollivander's wand shop, where she had met James and Sirius for the very first time. She shook her head and told herself _Quit fretting. It's only a library. Your troubles aren't over yet if you start by being afraid of the silence._

However, having checked the entire library up, she stopped near the Restricted Section and peered through the wire netted door, just in case. It was quite stupid, completely irrational, totally illogic, but she couldn't help feeling a weird sort of sensation settle in her guts, as though a knot was gradually tightening. And this time, the heavy silence had nothing to do with it.

_They _must_ be somewhere. But where?_

'Evans? What are you doing here? You have to handle a note signed by one of your teachers to borrow books from the Restricted Section –' 

The librarian's curt voice brought Lily back to Earth with a sharp thud; she started and turned around, trying to sound natural, 'Excuse me Madam Pince, but I was looking for three friends of mine … Potter, Black, and Lupin – they've been here a short while ago, I think.'

'Yes, they have,' said Madam Pince less sharply. 'Lupin came to sign the register and the two others were with him.'

'Sign the register?' said Lily, puzzled. 'Didn't he come to hand in the book instead?'

'No, absolutely not. The book had already been brought back three weeks ago, but the scatterbrain had forgotten to sign.'

Lily thought very quickly. It had to make sense somehow. But how?

'And … they didn't stay, did they?'

'No,' answered the librarian, shrugging her thin shoulders. 'I found their attitude rather suspicious, by the way. Lupin seemed to have _completely_ forgotten that he had brought back the book at all.'

'Oh, Remus tends to be rather forgetful sometimes,' lied Lily lightly, then turning on her heels. She didn't mean to linger. 'Good-bye, Madam Pince.'

'You aren't staying either, are you?' The librarian's voice sounded almost disappointed.

'Er, no, I'm not; sorry. Have a good day!' 

As Lily quickly walked to the door, she heard Madam Pince mutter, 'Always the same. Never have one single soul here during the holidays. It makes you wonder what is the mere use of having a librarian, honestly.' 

Lily made a detour via every empty class, walked from the dungeons up to the North Tower, without hearing about her three friends anywhere. During an hour, she ran up and down through the castle. She said hello to Nearly-Headless Nick, met Frank Longbottom, ducked swiftly behind a pillar to avoid Peeves … At a bend in a corridor, she even ran into Avery and Nott who appeared to be looking for something or someone. She walked past them with her chin contemptuously raised up. But in the end, she didn't find the ones she was looking for.

As a result, and in the last resort, she rushed up the stairs leading to the common room, then those leading to the boys' dormitories. She stopped on the doorstep to collect her breath again, then knocked several times.

'James? Remus? Sirius? Are you guys in there?'

As she didn't obtain any form of answer, she took out her wand, tapped the handle of the door with it and murmured _Alohomora_. The door slowly opened on a completely empty room. The sock that had been Vega's Christmas present to Sirius could be seen under his blanket, and when Lily came closer to take it out and put it somewhere clean and tidy, she realised that the counterpane also concealed quite a part of her friend's underwear, along with a number of rather crumpled pieces of parchment, some unrolled scrolls, and Sirius's copy of _A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_. Outnumbered, Lily gave up her struggle against untidiness; she went to sat opposite Sirius's bed on James's, which seemed more tidy, and put her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands.

For the hundredth time of the day, she let her mind wander, turning endlessly around one single question: _Where are they?_ They could be anywhere, working on a prank, trying to find their way along a corridor they'd never encountered yet, banging their fists on the door of the toilet in the dungeons hoping to be heard and let out … anywhere, but not in real danger. However something deep down in herself, something confused that she couldn't quite explain, kept whispering in her ear that the situation wasn't normal – that something was definitely wrong. She tucked a dark lock in her mouth and began to fidget mechanically with the edge of one of James's bed-sheets as she recalled one by one the many places she'd visited, frowning up at the ceiling as she did so. Her eyes only met with cracks on the dark wood ceiling. _This one looks like an eye,_ she thought, then _now that one resembles a dragon._

Imagining forms and meaning to the many cracks in the ceiling – or in the clouds – was one of Lily's favourite games. Finding in it the best way to rest her mind a bit (to be able to think properly later), she lay on her back on James's bed, and fixed her stare up at the ceiling. She would probably have stayed there for a while, laughing softly at a windsurfing board, frowning at two cracks forming the higher part of a heart but also something much less innocent, smiling dreamily at a handsome, pointed-eared profile … if she had not let her gaze pass on a sort of snake slithering between the windsurfing board and the eye. This vague form made an absurd idea slowly sneak into her mind. She rejected at it first, thinking of it as highly improbable; then, as it settled down comfortably in her head, she was forced to reconsider it.

_"Severus Snape."_

"You didn't see him anywhere, did you?"

Lily shook her head and tried to concentrate on another crack in the ceiling, replying to the voice in her mind, _That's normal, you idiot. He must be in his common room with the other Slytherins._

_"Indeed?"_ retorted the little voice, back with a vengeance. _"If it is so, then why were Nott and Avery hanging around just now, looking like two dogs who have lost their master? There's something up with Snape, and you know that."_

_Oh, do shut up,_ said Lily in a firm, definite tone – then she realised she must have spoken out loud. She sighed and turned on her stomach, her chin back in her hands. _What do I do, then?_

_"You could start by getting up,"_ hissed the small voice. _"I'd be better than to lie down here doing nothing."_

_All right, all right, I'm going_. Lily took her chin off her hands and stood up reluctantly. Where was she going, she had no idea. She shrugged and walked out of the boys' dormitory, closing the door behind her. Jimini Cricket's song from _Pinocchio_ trotted around her mind.

When she found herself back on the doorstep, her first thought was to go down to the common room and wait quietly for them. But Lily didn't feel like waiting quietly. She wanted some action done, and above all hated to stay behind and do nothing like the perfect little schoolgirl. She was far from perfect, and she was growing mad by dint of running around aimlessly.

So she ran down the staircase then up to the girls' dorms. Once in hers, she grabbed her cloak, and threw it swiftly over her shoulders, fastening it as she walked through the door. She wanted to get some fresh air.

As she walked across the Great Hall, she ran into Olivia O'Flaherty, a Gryffindor girl in Vega's year, who was strolling around idly in the castle.

'I'm bored,' sighed Olivia as she brushed her shoulder-length, curly hair past her shoulder. 'There isn't anything to do in here in winter holidays. Everybody's left, especially the most handsome boys of course – and Vega dropped me to rush I don't know where.'

Lily almost said that Vega was up in the Astronomy Tower, but something stopped her from doing so. 'You can come along with me, if you're so bored,' she suggested with a shrug. Olivia seemed mildly interested.

'You've got a date? Who is it?'

'I don't have a _date_,' muttered Lily. 'I just want to go out for some fresh air – go up to Hagrid's cabin and back or something – I haven't got anything to do either.'

'Where are the boys constantly hanging around with you?' asked Olivia, peering intently at her. 'Vega's little brother's always there when you're around, and James Potter, and little Lupin too –'

'They've got something else to do,' said Lily evasively – she didn't want to dwell on the subject. Olivia nodded and straightened her cloak. Lily followed her through the double doors then down the stony stairs glittering with icy snow.

Hogwarts' grounds were quite beautiful in winter. It looked like a giant birthday cake covered entirely with icing sugar that crackled and crunched under your feet. The tableau was completed by the leaf-less branches of the trees, stooping under the heavy snow. On the right, the ground sloped and stopped in a rather sharp cliff, revealing the faraway mountains; and Hagrid's deserted cabin resembled an over-sized mushroom, standing among all this whiteness like a piece of marzipan on a birthday cake.

While Olivia gazed around indifferently, Lily kept her thoughts fixed upon her three friends, and Snape as well. Perhaps the latter had done something to them, may it be a bad prank or something more serious – anyway he seemed to have disappeared in the same time as James, Sirius, and Remus had. _If he's hurt them the slightest … the tiniest …_ Lily wasn't usually one for revenge, but if she was asked, she was likely to be found. She cracked her fingers in a mechanical habit to ease off the nervousness. 

'Oy!' cried Olivia, startled. 'Don't you ever do that again! I hate when people crack their joints, it gives me the creeps!'

'Sorry,' Lily said, looking up. 'It's just that –'

She trailed off, eyes and mouth wide open, and began to dash off toward Hagrid's cabin, leaving a bemused Olivia behind. For Lily had just taken a glimpse of a motionless black-haired form, wearing Hogwarts' black robes and cloak, lying on his stomach near the edge of the Forbidden Forest. As she ran, she could better make out the jet-black, longish hair, and the long, lean frame – _Sirius!_

Lily must have cried out loud without meaning it, because she heard Olivia's quick footsteps behind her; she turned around briefly and saw that the girl was flying toward her, raising the edge of her robes to keep herself from stumbling. Lily's heart was beating wildly in her chest – the form seemed to lie completely still. _Let him be alive, oh my God let him be alive …_

'Sirius?' she panted as she dropped on her knees by his side, out of breath. 'Oh Sirius! Talk to m–'

But it was not Sirius. Lily realised it immediately once she collected her breath and thoughts again. She took a long intake of breath, and gingerly turned over the body lying in front of her. This time, no doubt was possible with the black, greasy hair, the crooked nose, the thin mouth slightly open in surprise, and the black eyes still wearing, apart from an astonished and scared expression, something sly and mistrustful …

It was Severus Snape.

'Sn – Severus?' said Lily, astounded. 'What do you – Severus?'

As no response came from the motionless boy, she shook his shoulders slightly, panic starting to grow in her stomach.

'Severus, answer me! Severus? What's up with you?'

This time she shook him like a rag-doll, merely turning her head to scream in a much higher voice than usual, 'Olivia! Help! _Olivia!_'

_Let him be not dead,_ she repeated frantically to herself as a very pale Olivia kneeled down next to Snape to check his vital signs. _And let's hope that nothing of the kind happened to the others … Oh Gosh …_

And her worried, frightened gaze flicked up toward the dark grim trees of the Forbidden Forest.

* * *

_This time, I'm sure I've never seen such high a ceiling,_ was James's first thought as he walked where the vampire – and the Voice – was leading them to. For the latter had not left them for one single second, making a few ironic remarks, hurrying anyone who lingered – sometimes it was James, more often Remus – or addressing the vampire who would not answer, contenting himself with nods. The Voice called him Belegaer, which James supposed to be his name. But what that name was or meant, he had no clue.

This room was huge, indeed. Much higher than the Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, or the Hogwarts kitchens – or even higher than the Great Hall, the Entrance Hall, and the Hogwarts kitchens put together. Its walls were still cold and damp, like in the corridors, but as there were much more torches, they appeared a sort of glowing, reddish dark grey, darker and darker as you gazed up to the ceiling. The stones were old, and many were rasped and scratched in various places, indicating that a long time had passed since they'd been posed there. And there in the middle of the huge room, in the middle of the stony paving, lay a great hole. Then –

'Halt!' said the Voice, and the three boys and Belegaer as well stopped short. Nothing happened for a second, then the Voice sounded again, 'Old One!' it called. 'Old One, crawl out of your hole!'

James, Sirius, and Remus huddled together out of instinct. They had no idea about what was going to come from the hole up the old stairs, but whatever it could be, it could be no good. The pointed-eared vampire stood there by their side, and he could have been made of stone for all that he moved.

Then, at last, something moved in the depths of the hole; a form slowly crept up the stairs in ruins, a small form, shrivelled as if by the weight of years, wearing an old, filthy, lousy-coloured cloak that seemed to have been patched more times than what was possible, and where cobwebs hung like at any angle of the walls. And when the form looked up – revealing itself to be a very, very old woman – none of the three boys could suppress a shiver: the face seemed _decayed_, with flabby cheeks, a tiny pointed nose, and a lip-less mouth; it looked as if it had stayed for months in stagnant water. But the worst part of all was definitely the eyes. Two enormous, sickening white globes, the farthest edges of which streaked with little scarlet veins. Those eyes were rolling in their sockets as if trying to make out something in a pitch-black place, and the decrepit hands were stretched out in front of her, ready to grasp. She was blind.

'Old One,' repeated the Voice, startling the boys again. 'Here they are. The ones I had spoken about to you.'

The old woman seemed to follow a scent, with her nose in the air, her eyes still rolling at random in her sockets; then she spoke, lisping in a grating voice, 'They seem quite young to me. Yes, quite young. Even younger than you.'

'They are young enough to know some things of importance,' retorted the Voice. 'I thus am bringing them to you, for you to discover what they have discovered. For you to learn what they have learned. For you to know what they know – and then you will tell me.'

The Old One let out a scornful snort. 'Always hurry, never wait. Hurrying so much will have you stumble someday.'

'Whatever,' said the Voice, and this time James could hear a slight annoyance in the bass voice grating in his ears. 'You can start with this one.'

The Voice whispered something, and Belegaer the vampire pushed Sirius toward the old woman. James could only catch Sirius's distraught glance and understand his desperate though mute cry of _"Help!"_ before his friend vanished down the stairs.

*~*~*~*

So then, another killing cliffhanger! Sorry, I'm kidding – I'm not that proud of myself. A huge thanks to all of those who have reviewed – as always – each of them have delighted me, really. You are so nice, all of you sweethearts. Don't change! :o)

So thanks to you, who reviewed my _Did you say kids?_: **_Mr Moofy, Agent 99, Michele Lupin, Prongs, Le Chat Noir, Lol, Sirius_Saphire, Katze, Digintegrated (Hunter Bill), The Wandering Blue Andalite, The Evil Dooer, Noodlejelly, Dujourfan1, Chrystalla December, Jev, and Bookwomankuramalover_** – hugs to everyone! :o) There's so many of you I can't thank all of you in turn … forgive me!

For those of you who reviewed the 8th chapter …

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Triskelion: you're absolutely right, MPP would never have been friends with Peter if he had not proved himself to be true before. I like anyway that sort of character – that's why I loved Neville's little scene in PS/SS, when he tells Malfoy he's much more worth than the little snake is (which is totally true ;o) and then throws himself in the fight … go, Neville! Thank you for being to keen on my 9th chapter – and I can promise you I've got much more yet in store … stay turned! :o)

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Digintegrated: you know how much I appreciate you as an author, and as a reviewer as well – I hope Flavia enjoyed this last chapter as she did with the previous ones!

**__**

Moony and**_ Maow:_** even three words make my day! Thank you loads for reading and telling me you've liked! :o)

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Cousette Lupin: thank you for the praise, Cousette! Actually I am French, so I first write in my mother tongue and _then_ translate into English – that's why the chapters are so long to come ;o) You have spelled "magnifique" quite right, and it's always a delight to me to read French words in a review! Thanks for the effort! :o)

Now, until the next chapter … hugs to everyone! :o)

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Namarië …

… Belphegor ~the Weird One~!


	10. Mazes and Stairs

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Bonjour, mes amis!

Yes, Belphegor is back! With a brand new chapter – well, not that brand new since I already put the first part, but now I present you with a whole 10th chapter! And even though I first planned to make it shorter, it just came this way – long. And I haven't even begun to write the 11th chapter… ::ducks tomatoes thrown in her general direction:: I'm still buried under books and essays on "Confinement in _Wuthering Heights_", "The founding of the Church of England", "The American Two-Party System", "Good and Evil in _Rappaccini's Daughter_" and such … Not to mention Poe's short stories, _The Great Gatsby_, _The Bluest Eye_, Flannery O'Connor' and Katherine Mansfield's short stories … and I'm still forgetting some. I'll have only one word about it, by the way. **_HELP!!_**

Author's Note: _When I began writing this story almost one year ago, I wasn't yet very sure about the "real world" timeline – I mean the years. But now that I have really thought about that – and also seeing the number of persons pointing Sirius's age – here's some clearing up: _

In this story, the boys, Lily, and the students of their year at Hogwarts were born in 1958. I think it fits with JK Rowling's saying that Snape (and Sirius, for that matter) were 35 (she probably meant by the time of PoA). This story begins in 1969 – James's birthday is around mid-June, Lily's in April, Remus's in March, Peter's in early August, and Sirius's birthday date is, as you'll see, 17th November. Now, I've received some complaints that Sirius's birthday shouldn't be so late in the year because the to-be Hogwarts student receives his/her letter on the occasion of his/her birthday. I may have missed that in JK Rowling's declarations, but if it is so, how do you explain that Hermione, being born on September 19th if I remember rightly, got her Hogwarts letter when she was 11 years old? After all, we only sees things from Harry's PoV, so we don't know when and in which circumstances Hermione got her letter. We can only guess it was before September 1st . Suggestions, anyone? 

*~*

Anyway, a little **Disclaimer:** I am the proud owner of four graphite pencils, two of which don't exceed 6 centimetres in length, but are still nice, thank you very much. I also own the paper on which I write, and I'm extremely excited at the thought that I will shortly have the tape of _A Hard Day's Night_ one of my best friends got me in her current trip to England!! Yaay!

But as for the characters, names and places, no, I don't own them. And I'm categorical about it. Now out with this happy silly nonsense, and on with the story, right? :o)

*~*~*

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Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

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Chapter 10: The Long Night 

Before Sirius could utter a cry or manifest any sort of protest, he found himself stumbling down he stairs ahead of the Old One. He paused for a second, not knowing what he would find below and not quite keen to figure out, but one single glance behind him was enough to make him decide. He preferred from far the unknown darkness ahead than staying near to the being walking slowly down the steps behind him with one hand pushing on the wall for support and the other one stretched in front of her to avert any obstacle. Her right hand never hesitated to find the wall, and Sirius was starting to think she probably knew the hole like the back of her wrinkled hand. The obstacle she meant to avert herself from was _himself_, and he gulped with difficulty at the thought of the scabby hand pushing his back to make him walk on if he kept hesitating. So he raced down the last few steps putting more trust into his instinct than into the faraway torch-light of the great hall above him. Soon, he had quite left the rectangle of dim yellow light, and walked into the shadow.

Obscurity didn't bother Sirius overmuch – he had his own demons and fears, but wasn't afraid of the dark. However when he felt, as he put his foot in front of him – stumbling painfully as he did so – that he had reached the foot of the stairs, he looked around, and shuddered. This room was far less dark than the pitch-black dungeon he had found himself in when he had woken, but it was also much more confined. Sirius felt his stomach clench and his ribs tighten, vice-like, around his heart. He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath.

_Get a grip on yourself, mate_, he said to himself, trying to keep his cool. _Relax. Just think a bit: the scarecrow's blind, she's tiny and shrivelled, and she looks like she's two hundred years old or something. And she doesn't even have a wand. There isn't any reason for concern. Nothing can happen. Nothing can happen …_ He repeated this phrase over and over in his head to get in imprinted in his mind before being finally able to breathe normally. He managed to remain calm even as the old woman tottered toward him. She laid her left hand on a sort of thick, dark, wooden chest that more or less reached the level of Sirius' thighs, while with her right hand she stretched a long, thin, black-nailed finger.

"You – get onto it and sit cross-legged," she croaked. "And not one move. Hear me?"

Sirius frowned, but obeyed her. The Old One then walked closer, and encased his head in her icy hands. Sirius gave a start and cried in alarm as he jumped slightly backwards.

"NOT ONE MOVE, I SAID!" the Old One roared, and a shiver ran up Sirius's spine. But he leaned onward again and, though he grimaced when the decayed hands covered again his temples and ears, he didn't move an inch.

"Hard head, stubborn head," the old blind woman growled quietly. "Empty head, but full heart. Let's see. Fear, anger – disgust too, eh? Bah, doesn't matter. What else?"

Sirius realised that this situation was not unlike the Sorting Ceremony, and so tried to slow down the flood of thoughts spinning in his head. That old witch could read in him like in an open book. He forced his mind to concentrate on something trivial: baked pumpkin on Hallowe'en, for instance. Unfortunately, no one can make their minds focus on only one thought for a long time. One thing leading to another, he started to think about Vega constantly failing at baking pumpkin. Then he mentally cursed himself as the Old One's face drew even closer.

"My, there's a sister – full of surprises, are you, eh? Older sister, too … But I don't care about _that_. What I care about is –"

Sirius knew perfectly well what she cared about. He was starting to feel a strange sort of stupor, like during that instant between dreaming and awakening, when you don't fully know whether you are sleeping or not. It was coming perhaps from the icy cold of the Old One's hands pressed against his temples. Two words whispered in his head, sounding hushed and faraway – "wandless magic" – but it was too late. The thought occurred to him naturally in response to the old woman's unspoken question. _The agate._

"Yes, boy … the agate. That agate the other wants so much … which is so precious … which you have kept for – how long have you kept it for?"

__

We've had it since my birthday, Sirius thought in response without being able to stop himself. _November 17th. My eleventh birthday_.

He felt very proud at the thought. The Old One said nothing, but he heard her voice inside his head, _How did it fell into your hands?_

_Found it_, Sirius answered. He felt odd, as if dreaming and floating in a sensation of uncertainty. _In a little skin bag. Lovely, that agate was. Yes, very lovely … white-streaked black little stone, like morning landscapes in Muggles' black and white films … dark and light, like morning …_

**_Snap!_**

The spell broke abruptly; the Old One threw Sirius away from her as she let go of his head. Sirius started violently out of his trance-like state; he toppled over, arms wheeling in a desperate attempt to regain his balance, and crumbled backwards off the chest he was sitting on. His head hit the ground with a thud.

"That'll do for you," muttered the old blind woman as Sirius got back on his feet, wincing in the process. "You know some things, but not enough. And you're too stubborn for me to get anything more out of you. Uninteresting."

Sirius said nothing, but ran a careful hand at the back of his head, through the black curls. He could already feel a lump forming on the spot where his skull had hit the ground, and when he looked at his fingers, they were faintly stained with scarlet. _Makes it the second time I bump my head because of this bloody agate,_ he thought as he wiped the blood on his robes. _I'm getting seriously fed up with the whole thing._

Besides, a slight nausea was gradually settling down in his stomach, along with a dizzy sort of feeling; he suppressed the need to heave as the Old One pushed him toward the stairs. _How long has it been since her last shower, honestly?_ Sirius tried to focus on the ray of yellow light falling on the stairs; he stumbled slightly and felt the blood drain from his cheeks. So he slowed down his pace and breathed deeply. The long intake of breath calmed him; he gulped once and gradually straightened himself.

When he came back into the torch-light of the huge room, leaving the stairs to set foot on the uneven stony paving, Sirius had gained back both his usual composure and a little colour on his cheeks. So he did not acknowledge without surprise the white faces of James and Remus waiting for him. The raw fear and distress that he saw imprinted on their faces, however, was quickly replaced by relief.

"Well?" said Sirius as he walked up to them, not looking once at Belegaer the vampire who stood behind the two of them, stiff as a frozen tree. "What faces! Didn't I tell you I was indestructible?"

Remus lowered his head to hide his smile and James gave a nervous chuckle. "What did she want?" he said.

"To ask you some questions," the Voice answered abruptly, and the pointy-eared vampire moved on again, this time pushing James to the stairs where the Old One was waiting for him. For the briefest of moments, James looked terrified. Then he turned round and his eyes met Sirius's. Those clear eyes were locked upon him, looking worried but alert and full of fire, and what looked like anger. _He won't let me down_.

And somewhere deep within himself, in some obscure part of his mind, James calmed down. He trusted Sirius and Remus. Sirius had come back up unscathed from the Old One's underground, why wouldn't _he_?

So it was a steadier foot that he put on the first step of the stairway to darkness.

* * *

Lily walked slowly up the stairs, muttering to herself some unkind phrases about matrons in general and Madam Pomfrey in particular. Standing in the hospital wing's corridor was not bothering anyone, was it? Yet it seemed that it was, seeing the way the matron had told her to go to her common room and not to stay standing there since she was 'useless'_. Humph. 'Useless'. So what? I could at least have heard what they were saying …_

Now thinking of it, it came to Lily's mind that it was probably why Madam Pomfrey had spoken to her in this curt and urging tone – to keep her from eavesdropping. The conversation the matron was most certainly having now with Professor Walsh and Albus Dumbledore was tremendously important, no doubt, and extremely serious … What wouldn't have Lily given only to catch a bit of it!

When Olivia and she had found Snape lying motionless in the snow, as if dead, her first feeling had been total panic. Then Olivia had looked up and stuttered, her voice quivering with relief, "He's alive – his heart is beating. But I don't know what's wrong with him…"

Lily ran her hand at the back of Severus' head, grimacing at the greasy hair, and finally felt an egg-sized lump. "Somebody knocked him out, Olivia," she muttered, looking toward the edge of the Forbidden Forest only a few feet away. Olivia followed her gaze, and for a couple of seconds none of the two girls said anything. A sudden wind, cold as fear, passed. The sun set early in winter, and the frozen snow was already turning to a pale shade of blue, although it was only six.

"We must take him back to the castle," decided Olivia in a less shaking voice. 

Lily nodded, but added at once, "How d'you plan to do this? He weighs quite a bit, and with all the snow we'll be worn out way before the entrance door –"

Olivia gave a nervous but definitely superior sounding chuckle. "You are _so_ obviously a first-year."

Lily sulked, annoyed.

Olivia took her wand out of her pocket, pointed it at Snape, and said "_Mobilicorpus!_". Snape began to stir; his shoulders rose, then his torso and the rest of his body followed; in the end the boy was hoisted a foot from the ground, his head lolling on his chest, his legs and arms limp, looking like a puppet. _I'll have to look up that spell_, thought Lily half-irked and half-admiring. _Looks very interesting_.

She trotted behind Olivia who started to lead Snape's limp form toward the castle. Then she froze in her tracks and turned to look at the Forest, struck by a sudden idea.

"Olivia! Wait a minute!" she cried, and saw Olivia turn to her, a few metres away. From where Lily was standing, the form of Snape hanging in the air with his feet swaying slightly about twenty inches from the ground and wearing the black cloak and robes of Hogwarts looked like an oversized, grotesque bat.

"What, Lily?" asked Olivia puzzled.

"I – go on without me, I'll be right back," said Lily, her eyes still on the forest. "I want to check something."

"Okay," said Olivia as she restarted Snape with a little flick of her wand wrist. Then, suddenly, she stopped short and spun on her heels so sharply that Snape almost nosedived to the ground; he pitched dangerously low, tipping as though over a bar, then by a strange sort of balance miracle he slowly tipped back to his upright position, still unconscious. Olivia hadn't noticed anything.

"Have you gone completely crazy?" she cried with a large gesture of her wand – behind her, Snape was swept few feet away. "What if the one who knocked out the Slytherin boy comes back and bumps into you? You wouldn't stand a chance!"

But Lily clung to her idea. She shook her head, "I have to check something," she pressed on. "Please…"

Olivia grimaced, then tightened her scarf around her neck and muttered, "Right, fine, but hurry up. He shouldn't remain in the snow too long."

Lily turned round and ran to the spot where they had found Severus. Aside from his footprints, and Olivia' and Lily's herself, she finally discovered others … "Olivia!" she cried. "There was someone else!"

"Okay, maybe it was the attacker," said Olivia in an annoyed voice. She was obviously getting impatient, cold, and very possibly frightened. "We'll tell the teachers and they'll catch them –"

"No, these tracks are too small … actually – actually there's more than one set of footprints – there are two – not, three of them …"

"What on Earth are you talking about?" asked Olivia, and this time she sounded more surprised than annoyed. "Three sets of footprints?"

"I think so – last year we went to camp in the wild during summer with my family. We met a guy who explained us the tracks thing and all, and how to see when there were several persons. Petunia didn't stop grousing all along and complaining she was bored, but _I_ was interested –"

"All right. So what?"

So … Lily _had_ an idea, but it seemed totally mad and completely unlikely … and yet … yet her instinct was screaming at her that it was exactly what had happened. "Olivia," she murmured, her stomach jolting funnily, "I think that James, Sirius, and Remus were here, too."

This time, Olivia stared at her as if Lily had grown another head. Her eyes slightly widened, her head a bit cocked onward, she barely uttered a "Uh?!", quite taken aback. Lily looked up at her, and repeated a bit louder, but with her voice still sounding strangled, "James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, you know? They've been missing for a bit longer than three hours now, I've looked everywhere for them for a hour or so, but I didn't find them. And now there are those footprints – look, we just have to follow – they pass behind Hagrid's cabin, then there, then –"

Lily had followed the tracks as she spoke. Puzzled, Olivia walked up to her, with Snape still floating along behind her. She saw Lily freeze, and begin to shake. "Lily? What's wrong?"

Lily's green eyes as she turned to her sent a shiver down Olivia's neck. Fear was running naked in them as she pointed to something on the ground, lying near three sort of holes in the snow.

"There's … They …" She was white as a sheet and seemed to struggle for words. Olivia started to feel really afraid.

"They fell down," the younger girl finally said. "And – look." She leaned down and picked up something. When she handed it to Olivia, the latter could see that it was just a glove – a red, woollen one; inside was stitched along the lining a little label with small white letters on it. _J. W. Potter_.

"James's glove," muttered Lily, her voice unstable. "He fell here, and the others as well, obviously. And none of them got back on their feet. Something – someone took them away – lifted them, rather – maybe with the same sort of spell you've just used …"

"A Levitation Spell?"

Lily nodded, and glanced at the forest. Olivia went to her and touched her shoulder awkwardly but gently. "Lily – if that's true, if somebody _did_ take them, they'll be found again soon," she said quietly. "Remember, Mundungus vanished once too, but he was found quickly and he had almost nothing wrong."

"Yeah, almost," whispered Lily. "Almost nothing wrong."

She put the glove in her pocket and proceeded to follow Olivia leading Snape's limp form inside the castle. When the three of them had entered the Entrance Hall, she rushed up the stairs to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey's eyes had opened wide when she saw Snape – it was true that he was quite a sight indeed, what with his robes and cloak soaked with melted snow, persistent snowflakes still clinging to his hair, and his half-open but lifeless black eyes – not to mention he was still floating in an upright position about twenty inches from the ground. Madam Pomfrey had conjured up a stretcher and taken the boy up to the hospital wing, with Lily and Olivia running along behind her.

They saw the matron lay Snape down on a bed, strip him off his drenched cloak and robes, pile covers on him, and chafe vigorously his face and arms. She took her wand out and muttered something. Snape's stiffened body seemed to relax a bit and his eyes had slid shut at last. She then looked up at the two girls huddling together in the doorway.

"Now, the two of you," she had urged, "do something useful instead of just standing there! O'Flaherty, go and fetch Professor Dumbledore, or Professor Walsh, or both. And you, Evans, come here."

Olivia slipped away and Lily walked in, feeling rather intimidated. 

"Rub his arms and chest, quickly and steadily," ordered Madam Pomfrey. Lily almost grimaced but said to herself that Snape, after all, might eventually be forever grateful that she saved his life. She even might have him do exactly as she pleased, and maybe have him swear he'd never bully anyone anymore. Although highly unlikely, the thought had something cheerful about it. Lily thus went on chafing Snape's chest under the grey cotton jumper he was wearing, but without any form of gentleness though. She was a kind girl, but one that mustn't be asked too much of, still.

Meanwhile, Madam Pomfrey had gone to fetch something down the shelves; soon she was back holding a large bottle with a narrow, long neck. She swiftly flicked her wand around the bottom of the bottle, muttering a few words. The contains began to swirl and a light red smoke rose through the neck. She slightly lifted up Snape's head – "Don't stop, Evans" – and poured some of the smoking liquid into the boy's mouth. She looked down at him anxiously for a second, and even Lily, worried though she was about her three friends, slowed down her massage in anticipation. Then, slowly, the hot liquid slid down his throat as he swallowed. The matron sighed in relief.

"I take it from you here, Evans. Thank you. Step back now."

Lily hurriedly took a few steps backwards. Now she could realise that it was hot in the room, she undid her scarf and kept it in her hand, nervously fidgeting with it now and then.

The door opened suddenly, and in walked Albus Dumbledore, closely followed by Rowena Walsh – Olivia came in right behind them. When she reached to shut the door, Dumbledore said, "Don't, miss O'Flaherty. In fact, I am sorry to do so, but I must ask you and miss Evans to go. Would you please leave us?"

Lily was about to protest, but she gave in and headed to the door when she saw the expression in Dumbledore's bright blue eyes. Before Olivia and she walked out, Dumbledore told her with a broad smile, "I thank you both for what you have done, before Mr Snape does it himself. You have done him a great favour, and most probably saved his life."

He smiled at them again, giving Lily the impulse she needed. She bravely stepped forward and said, toying with her scarf with nervous fingers, "Headmaster – excuse me sir, but I … I have reasons to think that maybe …"

"Evans, you've just been asked something, if I remember rightly," said Walsh in a curt voice. But Dumbledore raised a hand and asked Lily to go on, staring curiously at her.

"I think that three students are missing," continued Lily boldly. "Potter, Black, and Lupin. I've been looking for them for an hour or so, and I saw footmarks where we found Sn – Severus, I mean."

"By the way, where did you find him?" inquired Madam Pomfrey, still bustling about Snape.

"We were strolling about Hagrid's cabin, me and Lily," said Olivia. "She saw the boy and we realised he was knocked out. So I used a Levitation Spell to bring him back here."

"But before we left," cut Lily who absolutely wanted to speak, "I saw footprints. They were too small to be adults', and there were three sets of them – and then there were these marks of three bodies fallen in the snow – and then –"

She realised her voice was quivering and fell silent, not wanting to start to cry in front of everybody. Instead she took the glove out of her pocket and handed it to Dumbledore. The Headmaster straightened his half-moon glasses on his crooked nose, and looked closely at the glove.

"Indeed," he said finally slowly, "it seems obvious that this glove is Mr Potter's. And according to what you said, Mssrs Black and Lupin have disappeared as well – an easy deduction to make, since one hardly sees those three apart from one another. And you found it near Mr Snape?"

"Lying a few feet away," stammered Lily as she took back the glove Dumbledore was handing to her, stuffing it back into her pocket. "What d'you think has happened to them?"

"It is a bit early yet to advance anything precise," said Dumbledore soberly. "Nonetheless we can guess that, for some unknown reason, somebody abducted James, Sirius, and Remus, and knocked out Severus before leaving him lying in the snow. Hopefully we'll know more of this when he wakes up. How is he now, Poppy?"

"The boy's received quite a blow, but he is tough," the matron assured him as she came back from fetching a pair of pyjamas down from the shelves. Then she added, just before drawing the curtain to set Snape's bed apart from the others, "He must wake by himself in a little half-an-hour, if not sooner."

"Very well." The Headmaster drew a chair lying about; Walsh did the same.

"Half an hour?" cried Lily. "But – what about the others? They might be dead already by now! Don't tell me you aren't going to do anything!"

"Now, Lily," said Dumbledore soothingly. "Be reasonable! What else could we do? The only one able to throw some light on all this lies unconscious in this bed; let him sleep, he's in need of rest – can't you grant it to him?"

Lily shook her head. Blood was pounding so loudly in her temples that her head hurt. She didn't give a care for Snape's rest; she had even hardly noticed that the Headmaster had called her by her first name. Totally ignoring the menacing glare from Walsh's direction, she spoke again, voicing her deepest worries, "But it'll be dark in half an hour! What if they're lost somewhere out there in the snow? They'd die from exposure … they'll die …"

This time, in spite of all her struggles, Lily's voice choked in her throat and she began to cry for good. Hot tears rolled on her cheeks, that she couldn't stop. If it _was_ true … if they really were …

"Now, that's enough, Evans!" said Walsh sternly. "Crying is of no use whatsoever. You know very well that we can't afford to try anything at night, it would be much too dangerous!"

The words and the tone in which they were spoken struck Lily like a cold shower. Her sobs ceased abruptly. She turned to the deputy headmistress and blinked in order to see better, through the tears that were still blurring her view. "Does that mean you won't do anything until _tomorrow morning_?"

"As soon as the sun rises," Dumbledore assured her with a serious look, "I will ask Hagrid to search the grounds and even to look in every single bush of the Forbidden Forest two miles from the edge. He knows it well, and he knows the creatures that dwell in it just as well. If James, Remus, Sirius, or anybody else are somewhere around there, he will find them, I'm certain of it. In the meantime, me and some teachers will search the inside castle. One can never know."

He stopped, and looked Lily straight in the eye; and this time she noticed the small but bright flame kindled again in those blue eyes. "We'll find them, Lily. You needn't worry. We'll find them, and they'll be safe and sound."

Lily gradually calmed down. She wiped her tears on her scarf, and finally she looked down at her feet, muttering, "Thank – thank you, sir. Sorry I've gotten – carried away like that."

Walsh gave a small, almost inaudible snort. The warning glance Dumbledore cast at her was very brief, but enough to silence her.

"Go up in your common room now," ordered Madam Pomfrey as she popped in behind Snape's curtain. "Both of you. You are useless here. Hop it!"

Olivia opened the door of the hospital wing and walked out with a hesitating and rather nervous-sounding "Goodbye". Lily followed after a second's hesitation. Once back into the cold and draft-filled corridor, Olivia shivered and said, "Well, the best we can do now is going back to Gryffindor Tower. We can't do anything else anyway, can we?"

But Lily wasn't paying any attention to her. She was listening raptly to what was being said in the hospital wing, her right ear pressed against the door. Olivia frowned. "Lily! That's not serious! First it's none of your business, and then – what if you're spotted?"

"It won't happen if you speak more quietly," hissed Lily without moving from her spot. "Shut up, I can't hear what they're saying."

"You –" Olivia sighed exasperatedly. "You're going to be in trouble, I'm telling you. Besides, let me add that you _ought_ to speak more politely to an older student. You're only a first-year."

"Hm, hmm," muttered Lily. 

She hadn't even looked up at Olivia, who rolled her eyes, and said loftily, "Well, I, for one, am going to the common room. _I_ don't want to get caught eavesdropping. _I_'ve got some common sense."

Seeing that she didn't received any answer, she spun on her heels and walked a few feet away. Then she stopped and seemed to hesitate for a few seconds before asking uncertainly, "How many points d'you think we've earned Gryffindor for what we did – I mean bringing him back and all?"

"Olivia!" exclaimed Lily tensely. "Look, I'm trying to _hear_! Surely it's really imp–"

Suddenly the door opened, so abruptly that Lily was almost pinned to the wall. She only had time to leap backwards in a startled jump. When she looked to her right, Olivia had vanished. 

_Grr. Traitor_.

"I thought well so," said the matron's stern voice. "Could you possibly explain what you are doing here, Evans?"

"Er – er, I …" stammered Lily, caught off her guards. "I – I've …" As she looked down, her eyes fell on her red and yellow scarf which she was still clutching in her left hand. 

"I'd dropped my scarf!" she exclaimed, brandishing it as some sort of irrefutable proof of her innocence. Then, realising all things considered that she wasn't looking that innocent, she muttered, "I'd dropped it and I came back – to – pick it up – you see …"

"Of course you did," said Madam Pomfrey, folding her arms across her chest – though the expression on her face clearly showed that she didn't believed any of it. 

Lily turned bright red. She didn't dare to look at the open door behind the matron for fear of meeting Dumbledore's probably disappointed eyes, or worse, Walsh's mocking, sharp ones. She looked down and whispered, "Well, I just wanted to know if you had an idea … I mean, about James and Remus and Sirius …"

Something like a smile flickered over Madam Pomfrey's face. Then she said, sounding stern again, "We haven't for the moment – not a shred. And please keep in mind that a student's place is certainly not eavesdropping in a corridor, anyway." At that Lily felt her cheeks burn once more. "Now off you go! I don't want to see you in that corridor anymore. Come on, off with you!"

And she turned away, closing the heavy ash door behind her. Lily stood still, staring at the door for a little while, then walked away with a sigh. After a few steps, she heard a "Psst! Hey, Lily!" and Olivia emerged from behind a marble pillar. Lily glowered at her.

"Is she gone?" asked Olivia. "Sorry, but you see, at least _you_ had a reason to eavesdrop, I mean with the whole Potter, Black, and Lupin thing – but if she caught _me_ I had no excuse … eh, why are you glaring at me like that? I say, you're like a dragon with a sore head today … you look like Vega in a bad mood.

_Vega_, Lily thought. _We'll have to tell her…_

"We must find Vega," she said out loud as Olivia wiped off the slight grey dust the pillar had left on her robes. The latter looked up briefly.

"Good idea," she said. "But I don't have a clue where she is. Have you?"

"Well, I think she's –" Lily began, but a voice interrupted in the middle of her phrase –

"What are you two doing here?"

Turning around, Lily saw a seventeen-year-old, blue-eyed, and light-brown-haired boy whom she recognised after a second's hesitation: he was Jack Prewett, Head Boy and Seeker in the Ravenclaw team – he had been mentioned in so many Quidditch conversations among the boys, especially by Fergus Finnigan who was absolutely mad about Quidditch. 

Prewett had a little pile of books in his hands and a curious look on his face as he stared at the two girls. Trying to ignore Olivia who was hastily and nervously straightening up her robes and cloak, Lily asked in a small voice, "We're looking for someone – Vega Black – d'you know her?"

"Who?" said Jack, frowning.

"Vega Black, fifth-year Gryffindor – she's got long, very dark hair, and blue eyes, and –"

"– And a lousy temper," finished Olivia, smiling broadly at the Ravenclaw boy. "Luckily not all Gryffindor girls are like that – I, for one, am more civilised."

Lily shot her a very puzzled look. Olivia's cheeks were suddenly very pink, and she was still grinning with all her teeth as she asked lightly, "So you're staying for the Christmas holidays, are you? That's funny, you're so scarce in the corridors – d'you have something planned for New Year's Eve?"

Lily felt a shout of laughter sneak up her throat. She bowed her head and tried with all her might to keep a straight face, but she couldn't hold back a weird sort of little noise, something between a cough and a strangled squeak. It was all that she could do to keep herself from laughing. Olivia was abruptly brought back down to earth. She glared at Lily as Jack said with a slight smile and a frown, "Erm – I think I know who you're talking about, but I haven't seen her around here. I'm sorry. What are you doing now?"

"We were going to –" began Lily. She was about to say 'to our common room' but Olivia rapidly cut in.

"To the library! Yes," she explained in a slower voice, "I must borrow a book on Potions. On Love Potions," she added with an obvious wink at Prewett. Once more, Lily struggled madly against laughter.

"Er – well, I think I'll go along with you then," said Jack finally. "I have these books to return and research on Truth Potions to do."

"Wonderful! See you, Lily!" cried Olivia, making it clear to the younger girl that her presence was not desired anymore. "You keep me informed about the three, right?"

A bit baffled, Lily watched them walk off the marble staircase, with Olivia still simpering and Prewett ever stoic – "What's your name again?" "Olivia O'Flaherty, but please call me Olivia!" Lily was divided between a fit of laughter and an annoyed sigh_. Fortunately I'm not like that_, she thought with a quiet chuckle, good mood eventually winning the day somewhat. _I'm not sure Sirius, James, and Remus would want to stay with me if I were like that – I'll never be. Gee, I'd sooner die._

She gazed toward the door of the hospital wing once more at the thought of her three friends; the thought of going to listen again to the conversation unravelling inside the room came back to tempt her for a second, but she dismissed it – she didn't want for all the world to cross an already angry Madam Pomfrey, nor being called 'useless' again.

However, no matter how much Lily hated to admit it, she _was_ useless, in that she was totally helpless – she could do nothing to help James, or Remus, or Sirius for the moment. Nobody could, not even Dumbledore. And the night would pass without anyone attempting anything to save them, wherever they might be. And who knows what can happen in one night?

Shivering in the cold drafts, Lily tightened her cloak around her shoulders and headed to the stairs. Even the thought of a warm fire probably humming in the common room's fireplace didn't comfort her; in fact she fiercely wanted to have something to hit or bite – something that could have helped her work off her anger and frustration. It was too stupid. If only she hadn't been sulking when they had headed to the library, she would have been with them, by their sides, not all alone in this almost deserted castle, biting her nails with anguish and being called 'useless'. _I haven't _been_ useless, too_, she thought with renewed anger._ I found Snape, I helped Madam Pomfrey in warming him up, I have been of some _use_! They should see that I may be only a first-year, but I'm _not_ 'useless'!_

As she walked up the handsome white staircase, brooding over dark thoughts and muttering under her breath, she squeezed James's glove in her pocket almost unconsciously.

She was far from suspecting that right now, in a pitch-dark chamber, the owner of this glove was being revived with one word from a faceless Voice.

* * *

Curiously enough, James didn't felt scared strictly speaking as he walked down the ruined staircase – in fact he didn't feel anything at all. Everything seemed so unreal – the dark, damp walls, the feeble torchlight of the High Chamber as he already called it, the black, confined room that awaited him below – up to the Old One's right hand pushing along the wall to guide herself … _It can't be real_, James thought. _I must've knocked my head somewhere and gotten stunned … Something like that can't happen to _me_ – nothing ever happens to me usually! _

But it was true that the word 'usually' didn't have quite the same meaning at Hogwarts and at home. At home, his life had been rather peaceful thus far, spent between school and his mates, home and his Mum, then school again … But ever since the beginning of the school-year at Hogwarts, life had proved to be much more eventful. First there had been the pranks, then this night of late September when they – Sirius, Remus, Lily, Peter, and himself – had found themselves outside in the dead of night looking for Mundungus' _Three Thousand, Two Hundred and One Tricks of All Kinds_, bumping then into Hagrid and his huge hound – then Snape's mean trick on Peter and the retaliation that followed – the discovering of the agate and the disappearance of _Lecanoncy, or the Art of Divination through Gems_ – Remus's lycanthropy – and now all this … Where would it stop?

Not that he wished that everything that had happened since the start of year hadn't – all the contrary. The mere memory of the 'adventures' they had shared together was enough to make his dark eyes shine, and if he had to do everything again, he would without hesitating … but only until that afternoon, until they walked through the double doors and down onto the grounds. What had followed didn't … didn't add up – _conform_ with the rest. So far they had dealt with their own business, their own worries, without the adults meddling in – or so little. But now, suddenly, everything was stretching to dimensions just as enormous as the room of which he could still see a bit of ceiling high up above him.

As if on cue to his dark thoughts, he heard the Old One's voice croak behind him, "Go on down, boy, I can't hear your footsteps anymore …"

James, who had slowed down and almost stopped, started and continued walking. Now he had completely left the light that fell down from above; just a few steps more and he'd arrive. Only three steps – two – one –

James's foot almost slipped on the stone floor which was so old it was polished by the years, and he roughly gripped the wall to catch him up. _Yuck …_ The walls were slippery, covered with some slimy sort of stuff, certainly kept by the dampness around. He wiped his hands on his robes with a disgusted face and looked about himself.

To say the truth, his sight wasn't of much use, save avoiding hitting his knee into a big, thick wooden chest. It was just too dark. So to make up for eyesight, he listened with all his ears and stood with his nose in the air, in spite of the strong need to bury it into his scarf in an attempt to warm it up. It was perishing cold in the room, and he kept blowing in his frozen hands – especially the left one, for his left glove was missing. His gloves hadn't been in the same pocket as the agate had, and so hadn't been protected by the Strong-Glue Spell; the glove must have fallen off his pocket when James had been hit by the Stunning Spell. What a pity.

"Sit there, and don't move," grumbled the Old One, laying a hand on the wooden chest. James sat, still blowing in his hands.

The Old One groped closer and her hands lay flat on James's temples, on each side of his head. The boy felt his hair stand on end as if it were alive, and a shudder ran through him. These repulsive hands felt like ice.

"Let's see a bit of this now …" the Old One rasped out, and James suddenly felt his muscles relax in spite of him, and his mind seemed to function in slow motion. He couldn't jump from a thought to another as he usually could, and that sensation was pretty disturbing.

"Let's see – you're scared, hungry, cold, and fed up with all this, eh? But you hold on. Keep still, let me look … there, that's better. Courage, courage that only wants to sneak in … maybe not now. Not ready, not decided. Hmm.

"You know some things, eh? And you want to know some more. Good, it is, very good. You feel things, that helps you understand them and – eh, boy?"

James felt like drifting off. He was still as cold, but wasn't shaking anymore. He couldn't. His whole body was numb, up to his fingertips, and he let his thoughts float in a sort of fog that seemed very restful. He had no strength left to think.

"Enough! Back to serious business now," said the old witch as she brought her face closer to James's, loosening her hands around the boy's temples. "No more tricky tricks. Maybe I put too much in it."

James regained a bit of consciousness; the misty veil slugging his thoughts and freezing his body felt like lifting up somewhat. He jumped slightly when he heard the Old One's voice sounding in his head, although the lip-less mouth hanging only a few inches from him wasn't moving at all.

_The agate, boy … what do you know about it?_

James wanted to speak, but he couldn't unclench his teeth. He thought instead, _It's beautiful._

The Old One sighed exasperatedly. _What else?_

_It's magical_, James continued thinking. _It made the water cool down. Sirius plunged his hand and the water didn't burn him._ It was difficult to shape out thoughts, images rushing back without a warning, but James was like driven to answering by a will much more powerful than his own. He was barely aware of the incoherence of the words he was voicing silently. _But – it's not complete_.

"Not complete?"

Something fleeting flicked over the Old One's face, almost masked by the shadow of the tatty hood that covered her head. But James didn't notice.

"What do you mean by that?" she hissed.

_I don't know_, answered James truthfully. It was an absurd idea and he didn't understand why on Earth he was thinking that. _I think – I think something's missing … but I can't tell what it is … This agate just isn't a whole. Something is missing._

He stopped with a slight shiver. In front of him, only a few centimetres from his face, the blind eyes had seemed to burn for an unknown reason. But this vision was so fleeting that James eventually wondered whether he had not hallucinated.

The Old One's hands covered his temples once more, and James felt the odd stupor begin to numb his body once more. But this time, he wasn't caught off guards, and he knew what awaited him if he allowed his muscles and his mind to relax. He resisted doggedly and with all his might against this sort of fatigue that made him insensitive to the outside world. And to his great surprise …

It worked, somehow.

He managed to keep a cool head, and to watch out for thoughts unexpectedly turning up in his head. No strange phrase came into his mind, and even the Old One's icy hands plastered against his temples didn't make him shake. The old witch sighed and mumbled, "Well, looks like I can't get anything more out of you – never mind. I've learned some things – maybe."

She unstuck her hands from James's temples, and he felt a huge weight lift off his head. He even gave an involuntary move as she let go of him, as if she had been pulling him to her all along and he had been struggling to squirm out. He regained his balance and get off the wooden chest.

"Stairs," growled the Old One as she felt her way along the wall to the crumbling staircase. In a few strides James was at the foot of the stairs. He rushed up the steps, so eager was he on seeing again what could pass for light. Besides, he was getting really hungry.

* * *

"C'mon, Lily, just eat a bit of it, won't you?"

Fergus Finnigan eyed his schoolmate worriedly. Lily had hardly touched the contains of her plate, and was currently fidgeting absent-mindedly with her fork, her chin in her hand and her elbows on the table. This wasn't a good sign.

"Oy, Earth to Lily! Hello, can you hear me?"

No reply. The fork was still dancing in Lily's hands, and the big green eyes, from which the usual sparkling light seemed gone, remained unfocused. Fergus turned to Lisa Dodger and Tim Thomas who were sitting one in front of him and the other to his left, and gave them a meaningful look. Tim shrugged helplessly. As for Lisa, she glared at Tim who shrank down on his seat as if under the threat of a scold; then she looked at Lily intently.

Lily hadn't moved an inch during this whole little pantomime. 

Lisa didn't say anything for a while, just glancing at Lily, then down at the table, then back up at Lily, then back down at the table. Then, as Fergus and Tim began to exchange puzzled looks, she leaned closer to Lily and said quite seriously, "_I_ count eleven. Or maybe eleven and a half if you count this one, there, the one that's half gone."

Lily blinked, and slowly turned her head to look at Lisa's impassive face. "What? What're you talking about?"

"The candle wax marks on the table," said Lisa shrugging as if it were obvious. "You _were_ counting them, weren't you? You've been staring down at this table for twenty minutes now, and we've been calling you for twenty minutes but you wouldn't respond – you must've been pretty concentrated."

Lily didn't process it at once. Then, as she understood at least, she blushed and looked down. "Sorry Lisa, I've – I was elsewhere."

"You obviously were," said Fergus half-mockingly half-sympathetically. "I'd even say you were out on another planet."

"It's because the three others are missing, isn't it?" asked Tim.

Lily nodded, sniffing.

"Oy, Pretty Lily Flower," said another voice from Tim's right. "Don't worry, they'll be back, maybe sooner than you think." It was Mundungus, who smiled reassuringly at Lily. She felt slightly better somehow.

"How do you know that?" asked Olivia nervously. She had been keeping unusually silent so far and had just looked up. "Only because you've gotten yourself abducted on Hallowe'en doesn't mean you're a war veteran or anything!"

"Whoa, easy there Olivia," said Mundungus without loosing countenance. "I'm trying to reassure Lily, and here you go insulting me. That's not the cleverest thing to do, y'know."

"Shut up," retorted Olivia tensely. "I don't give a care about what you say. I don't give a dam–"

"Hey, who rang your bell –?"

"Stop it, the two of you," cut Vega in a curt, sharp tone, nothing like her usual one. "Be quiet."

She had barely looked up, her neck stiff and her jaw clenched; but it was enough to silence them. She hadn't been eating much either, and her face was shut, unusually pale. Lily met her gaze, and was mildly surprised to see that concern had turned her lively blue eyes as sharp and hard as diamonds. Somehow this worried her much more than the glove she had found lying in the snow. If the inflexible Vega was in this state, then things were going really ill.

But then, it was perfectly normal that she should worry about her brother, right?

"Eat, Lily," said Vega in a softer voice. "Starving yourself won't be of any use – doesn't help anything nor anybody."

Lily glanced down at her fork and at the piece of potato pinned on its prongs, then stuffed it into her mouth. It was cold, and she didn't even feel the taste of it, but it managed to slide down without she feeling the need to spit it out. It wasn't much of a thing to do in front of everybody, too.

Lily was far from eating as much as she usually did, but at least there was something in her stomach when she left the table. Lisa had finished her meal in the same time, and went with her. Vega followed a second later – she had barely touched her plate.

When the three girls arrived in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, the painted figure gave a concerned glance at Lily and Vega. "Violet told me what happened," she sighed worriedly. "And to think they passed through here just this afternoon … I said to myself then 'they're going to return a book, they won't be long …' How wrong I was! My Goodness, that makes it the second kidnapping within a few months! It's been at least twenty years since something like that last happened –"

"_Hideous hag_," cut Lisa in an annoyed voice, seeing that Lily was starting to look down.

"Young lady, I won't allow any of this –!" squeaked the Fat Lady furiously.

"That's the pass word," muttered Vega as she stepped closer to the picture, signifying clearly she wasn't going to waste any more time waiting at the door. The Fat Lady murmured as she opened, her cheeks suddenly as pink as her dress, "Oh … I'm sorry. You must be so upset and –"

"Thanks," said Lily walking over through the passageway. "It's all right."

The common room was as calm as it was when she last left it. Only a few seventh-years sat in armchairs by the fireplace, discussing what sounded like a particularly difficult – and tedious – Arithmancy question. Lily and Lisa went to sit at a table, while Vega walked up straight to her dorm. After a moment's uncomfortable silence, Lily shifted in her chair and said, "Erm, Lisa – d'you have a game of cards? I mean, a _normal_ one – Muggle version, not the wizarding one."

Lily still couldn't get used to these strange cards, with the knights constantly challenging each other, the kings comparing the wealth of their respective crowns, and the queens simpering and plotting with the jacks. Lisa shook her head. "No, but I think Mundungus's got one … We can always ask him if we can borrow it, if you want."

Her voice as she said this sounded so unenthusiastic that Lily got up with a slight smile, "Right, it's fine – I'm coming up to the dorm to fetch myself a book. Are you coming?"

"Coming," said Lisa, jumping off her chair so quickly it seemed she had never been sitting there. "I'm sure I can add some things to my History of Magic essay … you know, about this dwarf army that helped the Goblins in their 1642 rebellion. I don't remember which Goblin general paid them –"

Once up in their dorm, the two girls headed to their respective beds and the trunks they kept underneath. Lily took out a small hardcover book of about three hundreds pages thick as Lisa rummaged about in her things until she found what she was looking for: two rolls of parchment, her quill and ink bottle, and a leather-bound book entitled _First Goblin Rebellion – 1601–1681_. She jumbled everything into her schoolbag and walked through the dormitory's door behind Lily.

The three or four seventh-years had left the armchairs by the fireplace and were sitting at a table near the window. Olivia had made her way to the common room meanwhile. Mundungus had as well, and the two of them were now glaring at each other from time to time. Ignoring the two, Lily took an armchair while Lisa drew an empty table and chair near the fireplace and sat next to her schoolmate, in front of the flames whose bright glow danced on the walls. Silence fell for a moment – Lily was reading, and Lisa chewing thoughtfully on her already mangled quill tip. She leafed through her Goblin book for a few seconds, wrote down a few words which seemed to please her; then she gave a bored sigh, put her quill down on the table and glanced at the page Lily was reading. A word caught her attention and she couldn't help but remark out loud, puzzled. 

"Psst!" she whispered, in order not to break the silence of the common room too much. "The publisher forgot to correct the typos! It's written 'dwarves', but the plural of 'dwarf' is 'dwarfs', not 'dwarves'! Who's written that to make such a mistake?"

"Linguistic teacher," muttered Lily without looking up. Now that Lisa thought of it, it had been quite a while since Lily hadn't turned the page – supposing she had actually done so before. Surprised by her answer, Lisa decided to jump on the opportunity to make her talk a bit, seeing the gloomy expression on her face. "Linguistic teacher? How come –?"

"He did it on purpose," said Lily still in a low voice. " 'Dwarves' sounds more respectable, I guess. And then that's not about the dwarfs we know – those are different."

"What're you reading, anyway?" asked Lisa, who'd have given anything to escape her History of Magic essay, which actually was even more boring than total inactivity.

"_The Hobbit_ – it's about … oh, but if I start telling you the story it'll take hours."

"A Muggle wrote that?" said Lisa thoughtfully.

"Yeah," answered a resigned Lily as she closed her book. "Look, if you want the book you can take it, I've already read it –" She was quiet for an instant, then opened the book again, this time at the very first page. "You know what? Actually I'm not moving from here or going to sleep till the three others are back safe and sound."

"Okay for me," said Lisa bravely. She stuffed her book and History of Magic essay, ink bottle and quill back in her bag, and went to sit in the armchair closest to Lily.

"You mean to stay up?" asked Lily curiously. "I'm telling you I'll surely not sleep at all tonight!"

"If you can do it, why can't I?" said Lisa stubbornly. "A sleepless night would be fun to have!"

"A sleepless night?" said a boy's voice behind Lisa's armchair. "_That_ sounds interesting, doesn't it, dear Mr Finnigan?"

"Interesting indeed, Mr Thomas," said Fergus's voice behind Lily's armchair. "I'm more than willing to have a try at it, if you'd like to."

"And then," added Tim as he popped in near Lisa, winking, "a sleepless night's always some kind of adventure!"

Lily gave a chuckle, and said, "I was about to ask Lisa if she'd mind me reading the book out loud to her."

"Interesting stuff, at least? What is it about?" asked Fergus as he drew an armchair.

"Adventure," said Lily.

"Is there a prince?" asked Tim, raising an eyebrow as he settled down too.

"No, but there's a king."

"Is there a princess?" asked Fergus, looking as though he wished there wasn't.

"No, but there are giant spiders."

Fergus looked very much pleased.

"Is there some real sort of monster?" asked Lisa.

"Yes," said Lily, "if you count the dragon as one."

"Great!" exclaimed the two boys at once. "Read, you've got our rapt attention."

"Go, Lily," said Lisa, "we're listening."

And Lily began to read, '_In a hole in the ground lived a hobbit …_ '

* * *

_How long's James been down there?_ asked Sirius to himself as he bit his fingernails out of nervousness. _Was I so long? What's this old bat doing to him? What's –_

"Sirius?" Remus's voice, low though it was, startled him. Sirius turned to his friend in a nervous start.

"Uh? What?"

"Lower, Sirius," murmured Remus with a discreet sideways look at Belegaer the vampire standing a few feet behind them, his blemish face looking as though engraved in marble. Remus's tone of voice – quick, as if wary – clicked something in Sirius's mind, and this time he reported all his attention on his friend. "What's up?" he asked in an almost inaudible voice. 

Remus looked around and whispered, "They don't know, do they? About tonight?"

Sirius frowned. What on Earth could Remus be talking about? And seeing the insistent expression in the blue-grey eyes, he was obviously expecting Sirius to know what he alluded to. Then Remus whispered very quickly, "About the full moon tonight?"

For a brief instant, Sirius felt a wind of sheer panic bristle the hairs on the back of his neck. "It's –"

But next second, after discreetly making sure that the vampire with the pointed ears wasn't looking, Remus winked slightly at Sirius, and smiled so quickly that Sirius almost didn't notice. But it was enough for the boy.

_He's got a plan_, he said to himself. _Have you?_ he thought, putting into his eyes as much hope and questions as he could. Remus didn't utter a word, but blinked once, his eyes still as intense. Everything was not hopeless, then.

"I don't think they know," he breathed in a hoarse whisper that he easily made sound frightened and worried. "What do we do? Tell them?"

"If what you told me is true, the Old One will probably figure that out by herself," whispered Remus in the same voice. "And they'll probably panic …"

Sirius nodded, but soon an idea crossed his mind and he bit on his lip. "What can we do without wands? We don't stand a chance without them – you'll transform and there'll be nothing we can do …"

He was still playing along with Remus, in case of Belegaer or the Voice hearing him. He did know, however, that they had no hope without their wands. And there was no question of leaving James, who was still down in the Old One's underground. But Remus had seemingly thought intently while keeping still and silent, and seemed to have planned everything. He whispered in a barely audible voice, "The vampire's got them in his pocket – look."

And indeed, in a pocket of Belegaer's worn, long dark coat, Sirius took a glimpse at an inch of light, thin, and polished wood, that he recognised as being the twelve and an half inches of silver beech that belonged to Remus. And judging by the forms he could make out under the thick cloth, James' and Sirius's were there, too. But how on Earth were they going to get them back? Sirius would sooner be willing to drink one of Peter's Shimmering Solutions rather than attack this creature who looked about seven feet tall … He felt himself go white in the face.

"Panic, Sirius," insisted Remus, looking at him straight in the eye. "If we set about it the right way, it might be our only chance to get ourselves out of this mess!"

"But how –" began Sirius, but he was cut by footsteps from the hole, sounding closer and closer – the Voice was back.

"Your friend's coming back up," it said. "It'll be the turn of the last of you."

It was at this moment that James literally leaped out of the hole – so hard had he had run up the steps – soon followed by the shabby hood of the Old One.

"Next!" she said hoarsely. After a few words the Voice whispered in Belegaer's ear, the latter was pushing Remus toward the stairs. Remus winked at James as he passed him by, then turned to Sirius and cast him a last intent look. Sirius and James followed him with their eyes – they saw him walk to the Old One and down the steps before her. Before Belegaer was back, James turned to Sirius, trying to catch the meaning of Remus's wink. Sirius gave a quick smile as his eyes flashed suddenly – he'd just understood his friend's plan. 

So he whispered very quickly in response to James's questioning look, "Jamsie, mate, get ready to act! The vampire's got the wands in his pocket, and Remus made them believe it was full moon tonight – the Old One'll know about him and the others will as well – and we'll take advantage of the panic to make a dash out of it!"

Now it was James's turn to go pale. His eyes widening, he stared at Sirius as though the latter had truly gone mad. "But how –" he began, unknowingly using the same words Sirius had stuttered a few seconds ago. But Sirius silenced him with a discreet gesture, for the vampire was stalking back toward them.

For a few endless minutes, nothing happened. The silent was so loud you could have heard a bat's flapping wings. Belegaer stood completely still, his staring gaze fixed right in front of him. The footsteps had faded away again toward the first steps to the underground, leaving the two boys alone with the pointed-eared vampire. As for James and Sirius themselves, they stared intently at the hole in the middle of the paved stone floor, their eyes unblinking, their muscles extremely braced. They knew – or rather felt – that something was about to happen. Something impending. The air was getting more and more strained, the tension growing more and more palpable, and James, completely on edge, felt his heart pound so loudly in his chest that it hurt.

_Soon … It'll happen soon …_ That was all that he could think of. His eyes stung by dint of not blinking, but he _mustn't_ let his attention slip. Whatever was about to happen, it would happen anytime now, and he wanted to be ready to act. Fear clenched his stomach and his fingers were slightly shaking, but at the same time, a strange sort of excitation was welling up inside him and warming up his chest, like his first mouthful of Butterbear had done once. He understood Sirius's plan. He was about to attack a seven-feet tall vampire, take his wand back, and run for his life – if they were successful. James didn't want to think about what would happen if they weren't successful. He didn't want to think _at all_.

_Why was Remus so long?_

Just as James worriedly asked himself this question, a long, inarticulate scream came from the hole and Belegaer started; he went rapidly to the stairs and peeked down. After exchanging consulting looks, James and Sirius walked closer, too.

The voice – which they recognised as the Old One's – had started again after an intake of breath. The only two words the boys could make out in the piercing yell were 'Monster!' and 'Werewolf!'. They looked at each other.

"It's now or never," murmured Sirius.

"I'm ready," said James.

The footsteps belonging to the Voice were sounding down the stairs while Belegaer, seemingly disturbed and looking almost frightened, gazed down in the hole and uttered "_Gaur!_" very hoarsely. It was the only word the boys had heard from him, and they didn't have a clue what it meant.

"_Now!_" cried Sirius suddenly, and he threw himself at Belegaer.

The vampire wasn't expecting at all something so foolish – or so courageous. Taking advantage of his surprise, James leaped for his back and squeezed his arms around his neck as tight as he could. Belegaer abruptly straightened up to his full height with a sort of loud and fierce growl that sounded like a wolf's and struggled wildly against the boy clinging to his back. Dodging the arms pinwheeling around him, Sirius plunged his hand into the vampire's pocket and grabbed the wands. Red and golden sparks shot from the tip of the ebony wand and he felt warmth rushing from his hand to his forearm. _Everything's possible now_, he thought with a grin, his eyes full of fire.

It was the moment that Remus chose to burst out of the hole, running with all his might. He bumped straight into the stomach of Belegaer who doubled over, allowing a very sore James to slide from the vampire's back down to earth as Remus yelled, "_Run!!_"

Sirius dragged James, sticking his wand into his hand and handed Remus's to him, and all three of them made a bolt for it. James ran like he had never run in his life. He didn't look back for fear of slowing down, feeling as though his feet were flying an inch from the ground. Ahead of him, Sirius looked like a blur of black cloak and hair and he could hear Remus's short breathing behind him. Reaching a stairway leading up to another corridor, Sirius slowed down for the briefest second – but James, glancing behind Remus saw Belegaer, having gotten back to his feet, dashing toward them, and the Old One shouting in the middle of the room. Besides, the footsteps of their invisible enemy were sounding closer. So he took the lead and ran past Sirius who followed him without so much as a second's hesitation. Remus hadn't slowed down.

How long did they run like that, they could never tell. What is sure is that they ran for a long time, until their chests would burst, with no precise direction, following their instinct. They took dozens of passageways, dozens of corridors, ran along damp and dark walls, without stopping or even slowing down for a second. Then, eventually, as they reached a small room with a low ceiling and lighter walls, they slowed down at least, and noticed they weren't pursued anymore. They stopped, and collapsed on the ground, their lungs in fire, their legs feeling like cotton wool, completely out of breath.

No one said anything for a long, very long moment. The only audible sound in the room was the three sets of hissing, hoarse, and unsteady breathing, which they were trying to get back to normal. None of the three had run like that in his whole life, and never had they been so very scared; the adrenaline was only beginning to drop down.

Then James raised up his head and his eyes met Sirius's. Something unspoken passed between the two of them, and they both struggled to their feet. One minute later Remus was standing too, slipping his wand into his belt.

"Shouldn't – lag behind, should we?" breathed James. "Ought to find – some way to get us out of here –"

"You're right, James," said Remus in the same breathless voice. "Have you got an idea?"

"No," admitted James, "but we'll find one. After all, we escaped a vampire, a faceless voice, and a two-hundred-years-old-or-something scarecrow, didn't we? Why couldn't we escape from here?"

"Atta boy, Jamsie, keep the spirits up," said Sirius as he went to inspect one of the three holes that lay open before them. "Besides, I may have an idea."

"Shoot, then."

Sirius didn't say anything, but instead walked to the next door-hole, then to the last one. Remus and James looked at each other. "Ok, are you planning to tell us or not?"

"Yep," said Sirius triumphantly. "I think it's this way." He was pointing to the last of the three 'doors'.

"And how do you know that, O So Smart One?" said James sceptically. 

Sirius shrugged, "This way smells less stuffy and rotten. Besides, it's a way up. Is that enough for you?"

"Sounds quite enough for _me_," said Remus as he walked to the passageway. James put his wand into his belt like Remus had done previously, and followed his friend. Sirius took the rear.

They followed their noses then, starting from where the air smelt the foulest to seek some purer air. They were as quiet and discreet as possible, hugging the walls and tiptoeing, but it seemed that their pursuers had indeed given up the chase. Remus was still very wary about it, but James could guess they probably thought that the three boys could never find their way out in this maze of corridors and rooms. And he was starting to fear it was going to be so, seeing the astonishing number of the said corridors and rooms. 

However, Sirius's technique _had_ an advantage: the sickening smell of decomposing flesh was almost gone, and the air was much less tainted now. Sharper, and cooler too, James noted as he tightened mechanically his cloak around his shoulders – the cold was more bitter, like a winter's wind. An idea gradually sneaked its way into his mind, that he greeted with both mistrust and excitation: what if it were true? What if they were really getting closer to the exit?

"Hey," whispered Remus suddenly. He had slowed down his pace and closed his eyes, his nose up in the cold air. "Hey … d'you smell that?"

"Smell what?" said James at first, but Sirius slowed down too, and said, his eyes shining:

"Yeah – smells like – like –"

James, annoyed because he wasn't smelling anything particular, closed his eyes and took a long intake of breath. Only then did he catch a tiny scent, that he hadn't noticed at first, something fresh and wood-like – _that's it_ – something that reminded him of the snowy Forbidden Forest. Half a smile dawning on his lips, he turned to his two friends and asked, barely daring to believe it, "Like trees and snow?"

The others nodded, the same brightness lighting up their eyes. Sirius was the first to shake himself up and to take the climbing way, with Remus and James on his heels, almost running despite their own exhaustion. They walked for a long time still, for what seemed hours to them, before reaching a corridor that was much darker than the rest, but also drier; and listening raptly they seemed to hear the wind hissing above them.

"We're very close to the exit," said Sirius, excitation filling his voice. Remus nodded, and quickened his strides. They were quickly forced to stop, though.

The corridor was a dead end.

"Can't bloody be!" swore Sirius as James bent over, his hands on his knees. After a second during which he looked disheartened, Remus went to the end of the passage, and eyed sharply the very low ceiling. He examined it from every angle, and eventually tapped his fingers against it. The ceiling sounded like wood.

_Wood …?_ thought James, some gleam of insane hope re-entering his heart. He walked to his friend, and pointed his wand to the ceiling. "_Lumos_." 

"Thank you, James," murmured Remus, blowing and dusting off the ceiling, clearing a sort of trapdoor. 

"Wow, well done, Rem!" exclaimed Sirius in a low voice as he came closer too. "D'you think we can open that?"

"If the three of us set about it, we might be able to with an Alohomora Charm," said Remus as he rolled up his sleeves and took his wand. Sirius and James did the same at the same time.

"At the count of three," whispered James. "One, two –"

"Wait!" cut Sirius. "D'you mean at 'three' or after 'three'?"

Two pairs of eyes shot him a half-puzzled, half-annoyed look. Sirius's grin unveiled his eye-teeth. "Just kidding," he said, laughing. "Here you go, Jamsie."

"One, two – three!"

"_Alohomora!_" cried the three boys as one, and the trapdoor shivered in its hinges. 

"It's not strong enough," said Remus.

"Let's do it again," James suggested. "One, two … three!"

"_Alohomora!_"

Once more, the trapdoor didn't open; however, it shook so violently that the three friends could see a little bit of snow outside, with the light of the waning moon on it.

"Third one's the right one," said Sirius enthusiastically. "All together now, with jolly and good mood!"

The two others gave a chuckle.

"One," said Remus in a firm voice, "two – _three!_"

"_Alohomora!!_"

Cast by three persons with strength and enthusiasm, the spell worked this time. The trapdoor burst open, thrown back with all the might of the three sorcerer's apprentices together. The cold swept in the corridor, whipping the white cheeks, revitalising the faces, biting the three noses turned hopefully to the sky. James was so happy that he could have shouted with joy, but thought better of it and contented himself with an ear-to-ear grin. Remus did so as well, and Sirius had a quick dance. Then Remus gave him a leg up; James slipped up through the trapdoor, into the snowy ferns, before helping his friend to slip up through as well. Sirius was the last to come up, and the two others hoisted him through the trapdoor. Then James glanced about himself and recognised the dark trees, the intertwined ferns, and the icy snow, covering everything as though with a white shroud.

They were free.

But they were in the middle of the Forbidden Forest.

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End of the first part.

*~*~*

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Ah aha!! What's gonna happen to the boys now? Will Lily be able to read on without falling asleep? When will they hear something about Snape? How will he cope when he knows that it was Lily who saved his life? What's eating at Mundungus? Will the minute toilet seat make a further appearance?

Sorry about the End of the First part_ thing, in fact I was planning to write a much less long Chapter 10 and make it end without a cliffhanger. But things being like they were, I kept on writing, and after I looked at it, it was already 25 pages long. So you'll have the rest later – I must admit I haven't time yet to write the beginning in French, but I'm working on it – I promise._

I put in a few Beatles references, like song titles, you can always try to spot them if you really have nothing to do and you're bored – that's like reading bios, when you're so fed up that the author doesn't post anything you just want to actually do something. Oh well. Tell me!

Now, as I didn't get to thank those who reviewed my Chapter 9, I offer you my most sincere apologises and hope that this chapter pleased you all the same! I love you guys, you're really wonderful, and I want you to know that even if it's very common among writers to say that reviewers are wonderful, I do mean it. Thanks so much.

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Kugatsu Akuma: no really, dear, let poor Sirius out of this closet. In my story he's claustrophobic, you see. Sorry my story is so long – I really didn't plan to make it so long, y'know – and it's still going to be long till you see the end of it. But I can promise I won't stop writing, in that I will NEVER let this story down. I might be very busy, but I'll always find some time to sit down and write. I love the characters and the story too much to stop!!

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Impmon: You're flattering me!! I try to stick to Ms Rowling's style, which I find very fun to read, so it's really a great compliment. Thank you! :o]

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Storm Witch RD, aka **_Rock n Roll_**, aka **_Magicismyname_**, aka **_Rehanna:_** whoa!! You've certainly got yourself an impressive number of names here! :o) And you're offering me my longest review so far – for the occasion I offer you three croissants. They're good, believe me. Anyway, I was really amazed by your review – someone wrote something _so_ long! To _me_!? I was squirming on my seat and giggling like a little girl at Christmas. But then, what a review!! This must be the most detailed, the longest I have ever got. I hope you'll forgive me with that cliffhanger – I promise there won't be one next time. Aah, Rock 'n' Roll … I too am rather Beatles-minded at the moment. In fact, at the second I'm writing this, I'm chuckling madly because I'm listening to the _Anthology1_, 2nd disk, at the Morecambe and Wise Show – this part never fails to make me howl with laughter. "We're the ones with the big, fat hairy heads", indeed :oD … LOL, love this goon guys! ;o] I don't think I know Creedence Clearwater Revival, but I do know "Proud Mary" – love that tune too. You'll see more of Fletcher, I promise – I just try not to let my OC take control of things, but this one's just as stubborn as a mule. Grr. But I also promise you'll see more of Sirius's guitar in the next chapter! :o]

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Cousette Lupin: I live in South West of France, in a little town called Mont de Marsan, but in the weeks I go to my uni at Bordeaux, which is some 150 kilometres away. Now it's rather sunny and warm, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit!! Thank you for your comments on my story, you're so nice! I hope you liked this one – as I said, there's a lot more coming! :o)

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Pikapinay and **_The Unknown Female_** (aka **_Lana_**): Thanks so much! And don't worry, I'm not planning to stop writing!! Writing is too much fun to even think of stopping it. The real problem is, I've got a little too many things going on… that's all. But I promise the rest will be worth the wait! I hope, and I will do anything to make it worthwhile :o]

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Dragonsky: ::laughs:: Okay, okay, here's more! :o) I'm glad you liked my art, too. Have you been at the SugarQuill, Elfwood, or on the HP Art group? I'm just curious to know… thanks anyway!!

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Harriet: I explained the Sirius/age problem – that's how I see things, now I always love to have others' opinions about things I write. Every comment is very useful, and goes straight to my heart. Now, don't worry about typos in reviews – if you'd seen mine… ::clears throat:: Reviews are generally typed quickly, so I never mind the Big Bad Typo Demon's work in a review as long as it's understandable. And you're quite so. Thank you for the constructive review, and à la prochaine! 

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Biohazard: I do what I can to write quickly, but real life doesn't like being ignored, y'know. And its revenge is always terrible – awful – anyway, I'm always trying to get some time to write, but it's not easy… My writing has considerably slowed down, but not stopped, and I hope this chapter's reassured you! :o)

For all the silent readers: thank you for reading, even without reviewing. I do hope you've had a good time and enjoyed this story so far – and will continue to like! G'bye! :o]

Much of love to you all,

Belphegor~the Weird One!~ :o]

Last A/N: I found the one at the beginning was quiet long, and so I wouldn't add it up – but I'm putting it my two cents on the recent 1st round of elections in France. I'm not proud of my country at all now, and will do everything I can to change things. I swear, I WILL NOT spend the next five years of my life in a country that has Jean-Marie Lepen as a president. Never. I will vote on May 5th, of course – but I would never have voted for the one I will be forced to vote for (Lepen's opponent) if things had gone a different way. My birthday falls on that day, May 5th, and I'm utterly disgusted to have to vote for a man in whom I don't believe for my 20th birthday. But we (in all countries) have to stop fascism, intolerance, short-mindedness in all forms. Even when it means voting for someone you don't believe in. 

I guess mankind could very much use a little peace on Earth.


	11. In the Forests of the Night

Author's note: Well, I failed my exams and now I've got to retake them – ok, only 3 of them out of 5. But still. I only have time to drop by and post my 11th chapter… No cliffhanger this time, but some questions answered and even more asked; Lily plays Goldilocks, weird encounters happen in the back of the woods, Sirius's guitar makes another appearance, you'll learn all about the Lightening Vespertilio, _The Hobbit_, and Tom Thumb while the boys learn about hypothermia and Lily hears from Vega about a little shadowy moment of the Blacks' family story… And I'll stop here before I reveal everything that goes on in this chapter. Let's just say that … well, the night isn't over yet.

Oh, and for those who wondered about Mundungus's problems … This one's for you, m'dears :o)

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Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and has created the emotion that makes us fanatics write about her fantastic universe. Michael Jackson owns the songs of the Beatles and certainly has got nothing to do with the emotion that goes along with those fantastic music. 

Just me being pointless and freaky.

And the character of Bombastus is a personal tip of my non-existent hat to the French artists Ayrolles and Masbou, authors of the excellent "_bande dessinée_" (can't say 'comic') called _De Cape et de Crocs_. It's something brilliant :o)

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Hogwarts Original Pranksters' Fantastic First Year

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Chapter 11: The Long Night (2/2)

_So… what do we do, then?_

James had been wondering for a little while already as he cast a worried glance around him. The gleeful and excited feeling that went with their climbing up into the open air had quickly died down, leaving only discouragement and a shadow of fear. It was a little past midnight according to Sirius's wristwatch, and the Forbidden Forest looked much more black and menacing at night-time than it did at daytime, which was saying something. They could not make out much between the dark trunks, and to say the truth, James didn't really want to make out what may be lurking around them.

_Didn't Remus once say that vampires used to live there at one point?_ he wondered with a shudder, thinking about the great hollow-eyed frame that had guarded them. For all in the world he didn't want to bump again in anything of the kind.

"Gee, it's dark around here," mumbled Sirius right next to James, almost in his ear – the three of them didn't go too far from one another. "Pitch-black, I'd say, no pun intended."

Remus shivered as he tightened his scarf around his neck – the cold was much more bitter outside than underground. Then he turned to his two friends, "Has one of you a clue about the direction we should go?" he asked in an unsure voice. The others stared at him in astonishment. Remus didn't know what to do?

"Don't look at me like that!" Remus exclaimed in a rather pitiful tone. "No, I don't know what we should do – I've never set a foot so far into the Forbidden Forest – I don't even have the slightest idea where we are exactly! How am I to know that anyway? I don't have second sight!"

James lowered his head. Seeing the calm and self-confidence with which his friend had handled things earlier, he had almost expected him to guide them without a hesitation to a safer place. He should have known better.

"Don't fret, Rem," said Sirius calmly as he looked up toward the dark sky that was barely lit up by a small, as if shy waning moon. "I don't think any of us has a precise idea as to how we're supposed to get out this mess, but I can tell you one thing. We've got up out together, we'll come back home together."

"If I might say so, Sirius, what you've just said is quite a bit cheesy," said Remus with an ironical smile, but thankfulness in his voice. "But the essential is there. Thanks."

Sirius only gave a shrug as an answer, then, "So we're off, then."

"Off to where?" asked James, still looking around worriedly at the bushes. "And in which direction? Like you've just said, we've got no clue as to the place we want to go to and the direction to take either!"

"How could I possibly know that?" said Sirius, rolling his eyes. "Anywhere but here! What are we to do if the others come waltzing up through that trapdoor?"

"Guys," said Remus calmly, "there's no use in fighting. All the contrary."

"D'you have some other Words of Wisdom like that, Grasshopper?" Sirius finally showed his nervousness through sarcasm. Remus frowned.

"Yes, if you carry on being stupid, Sirius."

"I'm not stupid."

"Whatever. We only have to chose a direction and stick to it – this forest doesn't stretch out infinitely, does it? We'll inevitably end up walking into a populated place or something of the kind."

"If something doesn't walk into us first," muttered James. He was thinking about the stories he'd heard among older Gryffindors, and even some first-years. That there were weird creatures in the Forbidden Forest, centaurs, werew– James felt himself go red in the face. Remus. _Quit thinking about that, _quit_ thinking about that …!_

"James?"

"What?"

Sirius was eyeing him oddly.

"You're not scared, are you?"

James forced a smile. "Scared? Me? Not at all! Who d'you think I am, honestly?" he said in a voice he managed to keep steady with a slight effort. Remus shot him a sideways look, before taking his wand out of his belt.

"_Lumos_. We may need this, you know."

"Are you sure it's safe, lighting your wand like that?" said James, edging closer. "It could draw strange things …"

"But it could also indicate we're here," said Sirius, taking his own wand to copy Remus. "If someone bumps into us, they'll be able to help us."

_Who could possibly bump into us in the middle of the woods, in the middle of the night? Who or … what_? thought James, but he just lit up his mahogany wand as well. In the feeble light, he could see Sirius's cold-reddened nose and the small white haze that came out of his mouth each time he let out a breath, as well as Remus's slight shivers out of cold. Then he made up his mind.

"We could begin by going toward there," he said, taking the lead and walking to a sort of corridor made by a copse of trees squeezed together, as if to keep warm. Remus followed him; the glimmer of his wand added up to James's, producing a light that was a little steadier, gaining more strength when Sirius joined them. The three boys thus walked, very close to each other, almost curled up within this little light that was flickering but reassuring somehow. Nobody uttered one word for a while.

* * *

"I know!" cried Tim, snapping his fingers. "I bet it's 'wind'! That's it, isn't it, Lily?"

Lily nodded with a smile, and a vexed moan ran along the armchairs around hers. It was close to midnight, and a number of Gryffindors still were not sleeping. Sitting, slumped, or curled up into the comfy red armchairs of the Gryffindor common room, Lisa Dodger, Tim Thomas, and Fergus Finnigan, joined eventually by Mundungus Fletcher and Arnold Weasley to try and ease off the tension that had been building up for a few hours, were listening to Lily's reading aloud.

There were only three other students left in the room, all sitting at the same table: Nester Seedall bent over a book, running one hand through his blond hair and pushing his glasses up his nose with the other, looking more than half-asleep; the other two were none other than Aymeric Peppery and Heather Hawthorn, immersed in an animated, though low-voiced, conversation about Quidditch. She had her finger pointed on one page of a book, and he was seemingly defending his standpoint in some strategy.

Lily was still reading _The Hobbit_ aloud, but quietly, not wanting Professor McGonagall to turn up and take thirty points or more from Gryffindor. She had reached the chapter _Riddles In The Dark_, and at each riddle asked by either Gollum or Bilbo, she would stop and let the others think, getting sometimes rather – strange answers.

" '…So this time he tried something a bit more difficult and more unpleasant:

_It cannot be seen, cannot be felt,_

_Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt,_

_It lies behind stars and under hills,_

_And empty holes it fills._

_It comes first and follows after,_

_Ends life, kills laughter."_

Once more, Lily shut her book, a finger still on her page, and looked up around her to ask, "So, who's got an idea?"

There was a pause, troubled only by the sound of the pages Nester was slowly turning. Mundungus looked thoughtful. " 'Lies behind stairs' … 'fills empty holes' … Sounds like my great aunt Martha, that does."

There was a few muffled laughs among the occupants of the armchairs, then Fergus remarked, scratching the back of his head, "I've got a gnome or two living under my stairs, but can't really say that they kill laughter – they're so ridiculous."

"How come they don't live in your garden, these gnomes?" asked Arnold curiously.

Fergus grimaced, "We've got a jarvey in our garden, but as we can't seem to get rid of it, the few surviving gnomes have sought a shelter under our stairs. My cousin John Patrick laughs at us whenever he pays us a visit – he says that's not classy."

Tim hid a smile behind his hand.

"And they don't cause too much damage, your gnomes?" asked Lily interestedly.

Fergus shrugged. "We keep them from gnawing at the wood by giving them chicken bones, with curry. We must be the family with the biggest curry reserve in the whole neighbourhood."

This time, Tim choked back a laugh. But Lily was more and more interested.

"You know, my sister loves curry – we're never short of it at home."

Lisa stared at her, one eyebrow raised and the other frowning, not saying anything though.

"Couldn't you lend me one for the summer, Fergus? I'm sure Petunia would absolutely _love_ it …"

"I – I don't think," Fergus stammered, "that your parents would appreciate – I mean, it's dirty, noisy when it nibbles at things, wakes you up in the middle of the night, you must always keep an eye on it – it's no joke having to take care of one!"

"Does it crawl to settle in your bed, too?" asked Lily with a smile that could be described as dangerous. Actually she was already delighted thinking about the shriek Petunia could let out as she discovered a gnome in the midst of her impeccable flower-patterned bed sheets.

"_You_'ve got yourself an idea," Mundungus snorted. "But don't get used to it. It's still forbidden bringing a magical creature in a house where everybody's Muggle. Not before having a fully-trained witch or wizard in the family anyway."

Lily looked so disappointed that Fergus leaned to whisper something in her ear; after that, a smile dawned on her face as Lisa's frown deepened. Then Mundungus said, as if to shift to a safer subject, "Could you repeat your question, Lily?"

Lily did, and silence came to settle again. It lasted, long enough for Lily to start thinking about the three boys who were probably somewhere outside, shaking with cold, or worse – imprisoned in some gloomy cell by those who had taken them, maybe hurt – she felt herself go pale again. She had had no bit of news since she had left the hospital wing in the afternoon, either about her friends or Snape, and she had been trying for few hours to stop thinking about what could or could have happened. Reading aloud was a good exercise to ease off her mind, but the worry was just too strong to remained ignored for long.

At least, it was useful: Lily was way too anxious to even think of sleeping. Seemed that she'd have no problem holding on through the night. After finishing her book, perhaps she could write to Peter – to explain things, let him know about the situation – she would have much liked having his innocence and droll optimism beside her to reassure her …

The silence lasted until Arnold said, " '_Cannot be seen, cannot be felt, cannot be heard, cannot be smelt_' … '_empty holes it fills_' … It's darkness, isn't it?"

"Right on target, Arnold," Lily told him with a somewhat nervous smile. "Darkness." _Something tells me it's all around them right now …_

* * *

"Never seen such a dark forest," whispered Sirius next to James, almost startling him. They seemed to be walking silently for hours – which must actually be the case. Despite several pauses of various lengths, the forest appeared to stretch on endlessly. It had been three and a half in the morning last time Sirius had checked his watch, but it seemed to long ago …

"Looks like everything's black here," he continued on – "the moss, the tree trunks, even the sky up there. I feel like a pebble forgotten by Tom Thumb."

"What's that story?" James asked curiously, trying to ignore the hungry growl in the pit of his stomach. Sirius looked scandalised.

"What?! You don't know Tom Thumb, the Ogre, the Boots of Seven Leagues, and all that?"

"Sorry, I don't," said James, feeling offended. "Another Muggle thing, is it?"

"Once upon a time," said Remus is a low voice before Sirius could answer, "there was this Muggle countryman and his wife who had seven sons, the seventh so small he was called Tom Thumb. The problem was, they were so poor they couldn't feed the whole lot of them – so one day, the parents decided to abandon the children in the nearby forest, in order not to see them starve to death."

"Merlin's beard!" James exclaimed. "Those Muggles are mad."

As Sirius looked about to protest, Remus continued on, "But Tom Thumb had heard his parents talk. So he got up and went outside to fill his pockets with little white pebbles. Thus, the next morning, as the parents took the children to the deepest of the forest, he would drop one every ten meters, to find his way back. As a result, after the parents left, the seven kids only had to follow the bright pebbles all the way back home."

"He must've _really_ filled his pockets, your Tom," James quipped. Remus shook his head, careful not to trip against a root.

"Wait, it's not over. Of course, the parents were so glad to see their sons again that they didn't talk about the forest for a while. But since they were still starving, few days after that, they did it again. And Tom heard them talk once more and he meant to go outside to pick pebbles again; only this time, the door was locked, and he couldn't get out.

"The next morning he used little bits of the piece of bread the parents had given each, but when it was time to follow them to go back home, he realised the birds had eaten everything and –"

Remus was cut short by a weird noise, like a yelp, coming from the bushes. Three pairs of eyes turned slowly in that direction, but nothing moved, aside from a few, for the moment lone snowflakes that had started to fall. Heart pounding, the three boys held their breath.

"Maybe we should go this way," whispered Sirius hoarsely, pointing to the direction opposite to the noise. James and Remus nodded.

They walked in silence for a while, not daring to open their mouth. The trees were still as dark, and the faint light of their three joined wands allowed them only to not catch their feet in the thick ferns. And if there were just ferns … Strange plants that they didn't remember ever studying in Herbology class crawled around tree trunks that were sometimes three men large, and they sank ankle-deep into wet, dark moss. Snowflakes were growing more frequent.

"Wonder what kind of animals can actually live in here," muttered James as he rooted his foot out of the little hole of frozen mud where he'd accidentally walked.

"You sure you want to know?" said Sirius sarcastically, but still in a low voice. James thought for a second, then shook his head.

"Remus, the children end up lost forever in the forest, do they?"

"No, don't worry," said Remus with a small smile, albeit slightly nervous. "They wander in the forest for a few hours, escape a pack of wolves, then run into a house in the depths of the woods –"

"Shsh!" Sirius cut in a voice that sent shivers up James's neck. "D'you hear that?"

He had frozen, muscles stiff; the hand that held the wand was visibly shaking. James and Remus tried to not let out a breath, not move an inch by fear of breaking a twig. The falling snow seemed to deaden each sound under a white – or rather night blue – cover. After some seconds of silence and stillness that appeared endless, James walked a few feet apart, slowly, cautiously, to finally make out a figure moving, silent as a shadow, between trees.

"Looks human enough to me," James breathed to the other two who followed suit. "Wonder where they're going …" A crazy idea crossed his mind and he added on the same tone, "Why not follow him?"

Sirius started and an alarmed expression flickered in Remus's blue grey eyes, but next moment the two friends fell in step right behind him without more hesitation.

The creature – whatever it could be – seemed to have no difficulty whatsoever slipping through the darkness, dodging trees and thick roots; on the other hand, the three boys had to struggle against various branches and ferns that made them trip or whipped their faces. But James would not give up. Fine as it was, they did have a thread that could perhaps – _perhaps_ – lead them to something which could resemble a populated area; and then curiosity was starting to take over fear.

James was walking slightly ahead of the others, and so was the first into a tiny sort of clearing. He wiped melted snow off his face and realised it was no longer falling; looking up, he saw a sort of shelter made of tightly intertwined tree branches, a few feet above his head. This shelter looked rudimentary, but some magical trick was enough to keep it in place and protected the small tree-free space.

It was still as cold, but at least the snow was not falling anymore.

"Wonder who can have cast such a spell," whispered Remus beside him. He was standing beside a tree with Sirius, and James joined them there. "Look: even the holes between the twigs have been filled in. The one who's done this must be a good wizard."

"I do feel like climbing up to see how this thing's fitted out," said Sirius, squinting up.

"It's certainly a trap, Sirius," said Remus reproachfully. "Surely the owner has not drawn us to here by chance?"

"Maybe he didn't spot us," Sirius retorted, eyes still raised. "Maybe he didn't even lingered here … I'd really like to go up there."

"Sirius, I'm warning you –" began Remus, raising his tone, but Sirius wasn't listening to him – he had already gone to a tree that looked nice, James on his heels. The two looked at each other, then gripped once their wand in their hand before slipping it in their belt at the same time.

Remus sighed disapprovingly, rolled his eyes, but eventually followed them.

Sirius was a good climber, and James and Remus were somewhat toiling behind him. James had almost never climbed to a tree before, and he cursed silently as he puffed and grazed his hands against the frozen bark. But then, he wasn't going to let Sirius go up there all alone, was he? Remus had just said that fighting would be no use whatsoever, parting would surely do no good either. In the books, it was always when heroes parted that a danger fell upon them without a warning. So …

James's argument was cut short. Something coming from the right hit him suddenly with such a strength and violence that, his breath taken, he let go of the little twig he grasped and fell backwards. He only had the time to see Sirius's panic-stricken face above him, to hear Remus's anguished cry, then an intense pain shot through his back, a red veil passed in front of his eyes and the world went black.

*

"Are you completely nutters or something? You could've killed him, you mad … public menace – Blast-Ended Skrewt – dragon's dang – bloody idiotic old –"

What Sirius added to the end of his diatribe would normally have set James's teeth on edge. But given the fact that the boy was still barely half-conscious, the only movement he was able to realise was to screw up his eyes already shut. Which didn't go unnoticed from everybody.

"James! Are you all right?"

James, opening his eyes with some difficulty, was starting to make out the blurred lines of Remus's face, which from initial concern changed rapidly to relief.

"How many fingers do you see?"

James didn't have his glasses on. "Red."

Remus patted his cheek with a sardonic smile, nodding, "You look fine to me."

James blinked, and sat up with Remus's help. He didn't seem to have broken any bone and was feeling less woozy already. "What happened?" he asked after a second, squinting around for his glasses.

Remus glanced around, "This guy bumped into you – actually, he leapt on you, and you fell on your back into the snow from something like four or five feet high. There, here're your glasses."

"Thanks."

One of James's glasses' lenses was cracked, but remembering a spell that his mum had used once to fix a crack in a window, he took his wand and said 'Reparo'. Soon there was no sign of breaking on his glasses, and he could clearly distinguish Sirius who was making large arm gestures and pouring forth insults, each one more inventive than the next, upon a strange man – a head shorter than Remus, clad in long, dirty, and torn robes of a dark blue or dubious-looking violet, he was wearing high stripped red and white socks and a pointy hat vaguely reminding of those worn at Hogwarts, but which was a colour mingled with old green and dark blue. His eyes were almost hidden behind huge thick-rimmed spectacles. Judging by his small, roughly trimmed pointy white beard he must be rather old, but for all that he did not act timidly or quietly – actually he was endlessly gibbering and waving, comically mirroring Sirius.

"Hey, easy down there! What's happening? Sirius, who's this guy?"

The strange character turned in one swift motion to James who had just gotten up and he frowned under heavy, bushy eyebrows, "Young man, I'll have you know that 'this guy' as you ever so politely put it should very much like to know as well why _you_ are here and what you are doing at his place, in the middle of the night, without any invitation of sorts! For what the three of you were about to do has quite a simple name – 'forcible entry' – and I'd also like to hear your version of the facts, provided that it is sensible and believable! Are you aware that you are thus liable to a heavy penalty according to the Magical Law? Or perhaps you are not wizards – in which case I –"

"Whoa! Hang on!" cried James, drowned in the flood of words. "We can explain –"

"Are you Muggles, or not?"

"No, but –"

"Very well. In this case I'll refer to the Magical Law of 1956 which I consulted quite recently, article 1805, paragraph V, section 15 ½, which stipulates clearly that –"

"Well _I_'ll refer to common sense which stipulates clearly that launching at someone and make him fall six feet high it's murder attempt!" bellowed Sirius, red with anger – he was almost fuming in the cool air.

"Wait a minute – 1956?" said Remus curiously. "Last time the Law was amended was more recent than that, though …"

"How long ago?" barked the little old man.

"Well, given that we're in December 1969, that'd be –"

"Thirteen years, four months," grumbled the little man, obviously thinking about something else entirely, "and fifteen days, if I have my calculations right. Gadzooks, how time flies …" He turned away from the three boys and ran a hand into his hair under his hat. "What is the best Quidditch broomstick mark today?" he asked in a lower voice.

"Nimbus thousand," answered James without a trace of hesitation. "It's two years old, but the best broom in the world."

"Have you used it before?" said the old man suspiciously. 

The situation – three eleven-year-old boys discussing broomsticks with a little old man, while shivering with cold – was getting slightly surreal, but James kept his composure to answer, "No, my parents wait for me to play Quidditch at school … and as we're only first-years –"

"School?" cried the strange character. "Could it be that you are students at Hogwarts, by any chance?"

"Yes," Remus said, "the three of us are."

A huge smile unveiled three teeth planted in the lower jaw. 

"My friends!" cried the small wizard. "My dear young friends – forgive my rudeness – I have, myself, studied at Hogwarts, a very long time ago … But allow me to introduce myself: Bombastus Maximilianus Freidrich Horatius Von Ulm, great great great great grandson of Bombastus Johannes Teophrastus Almagestus Wernher Von Ulm himself! I was thus named in tribute to my illustrious ancestor, who wrote the famous _De Revolutionibus orbium caeslestium Libri VII_ and invented the Lightening Vespertilio! 

"An inestimable Muggle in his contribution to the progresses of mankind."

The three friends looked at each other with puzzled, astonished expressions; they remained silent for a few seconds.

"Er … Very interesting, sir," said eventually Sirius, looking sceptic. "And what's that exactly, your Lying Vesper-thingy?"

"_Lighte_-ning Ves-per-_ti_-lio!" repeated Bombastus patiently. "I can understand the fact that children like you know naught of this revolutionary invention, but I'll simply let you know that it was opening a way to all the wildest dreams – for the Muggles, at any rate – the way _into the skies!_ Indeed, long ago – three hundred and fifteen years, to be precise – my Muggle ancestor created a flying machine from the propulsion system 'Cui Vacui Fauces', thanks to which he could, for a brief but glorious moment, rise up into the airs!"

"And his system worked?" asked Remus, wide-eyed. James wondered for a second if Remus had actually understood what the wizard was talking about. He was informed when his friend turned a puzzled expression to him, one eyebrow raised, as if to say 'Do _you_ understand anything?'

"Why yes! Do you realise – a mere Muggle, three hundred and fifteen years ago and without any sort of magical help, _flew!_ But you see, I resumed his works and inserted rudiments of gravitational and levitational magic, in order to offset the lack of force of propulsion at take off and keep the sextant steady once up into the air."

"Uh … which means?" asked James, lost. 

But Remus snapped his fingers; _he_ had just understood something. "You used broomsticks to make your engine fly, did you?"

"Excellent, young man!" cried the little wizard with the delighted air of a teacher who, having asked a particularly tough question, heard his best student answer it properly. "That's precisely it. I've got here three magical brooms that I mixed with my machine – the help they bring for the steadiness and glide is extremely precious …

"Unfortunately, I still have a few small problems to sort out. Like the actual take off, for instance. But it will come, it will come!"

James had a vague impulse to go and see this machine in spite of him. It must be worth the look at, be it only because of the broomsticks! A glance shot at Remus told him that his friend looked like he wanted to give it a go, as well. But Sirius looked less and less patient.

"Eh, guys – not that I really want to interrupt your scholarly conversation, but I'm cold, it's night-time, and all I want to do right now is to go back to our common room and collapse near the fireplace. Don't you?"

"Sirius's right," whispered James to Remus. "We should try and see where we are exactly."

"Maybe _he_ knows that," Remus whispered back, pointing discreetly at Bombastus. "We could ask him, don't you think?"

"Quite. But _you_ ask."

"Why me?"

"Why not you?" said Sirius with a merciless grin. Remus sighed, then turned back to the small wizard.

"Excuse me, mister … Mr Bombastus?"

"Yes, dear boy?" said the scientist as he turned swiftly to face the threesome.

"It's not that we don't value your companionship, sir, on the contrary, but – we're a little cold and we'd very much like go back to Hogwarts. Do you have an idea about the direction we should take?"

Bombastus ran his right hand over his unshaved shin, looking thoughtful. "Why, of course!" he finally exclaimed. "I understand you – it _is_ true that temperatures tend to fall significantly at night fall, these days. Besides …" He seemed to get out of his little world and stared at the three of them, each in turn, frowning slightly, "Besides it is truly inappropriate that Hogwarts students should wander about the forest at this hour in the night! Do you realise that it is four in the morning?"

"It's – it's a really long story, sir," James stammered. The situation was getting _really_ absurd – suddenly he felt like being caught out by a teacher. "So, is the school that far? Could you go with us?"

A silence again; Bombastus squinted behind his thick glasses. "Take straight ahead up to the great dead stump, then to the left. When you reach the broom-shaped tree, you'll go straight again, then to the right at the next crossroads – there you'll find the edge of the Forbidden Forest, and the castle'll be right in front of you, with the lake far by your right. You'd better go right now, or else you'll walk in the snow.

"Well, I'm going back to my machine … I'm afraid I have way too much work to accompany you, and I regret it. Good luck to you, my young adventurers, and to our next meeting!"

And with a little popping noise he was gone, leaving the three boys unmoving and astonished for a while.

Silence reigned for a few seconds before they gave themselves a shake.

"The guy's barking mad," said Sirius, taken aback.

"Letting us down like that while we don't even know what may be lurking about – and, oh boy – do _you_ remember his directions?" stuttered James, very worried all of a sudden.

"Don't panic," said Remus in a would-be reassuring sort of voice. I've got a good memory – straight ahead, great stump, left, a broomstick-shaped tree, straight again, the first on the right, and then the castle."

James let out a slight relieved sigh. Sirius frowned. "Well, since we've got nothing else to do … You sure, Rem?"

Remus nodded. "Quite sure. You can trust my sense of direction."

There was a short pause, long enough for him to tighten the fasteners of his cloak – which (James noticed it) were made of a material other than silver, though it was grey too. _Of course, since he's a w … oh, _stop_ it!_

"We trust you, Remus," said James; then, realising there was a little too much emotion than he'd meant to express, he added airily, "We put our lives into your hands, pal."

Remus shot him a brief look, lit up by a smile that shone in the blue grey eyes. "Thanks, James."

The threesome lit up their wands and walked into the woods. The snow hadn't stopped – it was even thicker than it had been the moment they had entered the clearing, and each one drew his hood to cover his face. The cloaks, however, did not keep them from slowly getting soaked to the bone.

"Getting better all the time," muttered James, shivering. Sirius let out a snort.

"Couldn't get much worse, you mean."

James gave a chuckle, then, a few silent seconds later, "Remus," he whispered, "what happens next in your story?"

Remus rubbed his frozen hands together to warm them and asked, his teeth chattering slightly, "W– where had I s– stopped?"

"Little house in the woods," said Sirius. He, too, was shaking like a leaf.

"Ah … all right. So …Tom Thumb and his brothers run into this house lost in the deepest of the forest. They knock at the door, and a handsome, richly dressed woman half opens only to tell them to clear off. They beg, they insist, so much and so long that she finally feels pity for them and opens to give them something to eat. The problem is, she's married to an ogre …"

"An ogre?" James said with a tired smile.

"Yes, James, an ogre. And the meanest, most cruel, and hungry one of the country."

"Those poor Muggles … always _have_ to have the wrong idea of magic, don't they?" 

"Shut up, James! I'm listening here!"

"_You_ shut up, Sirius. I was only trying to warm myself."

"Can I continue with the story now?" Remus shook his head, smiling. "Very well. So they must eat double quick before the ogre – who's gone out for food – comes back. But he returns earlier that day and the woman hides the children in the big chest in the kitchen …"

Remus went on relating as they slugged on through the night. As he listened to his friend's voice, Sirius muttered an occasional oath under his breath against the mad old wizard who'd let them wander through the Forbidden Forest without thinking for one second that something could happen to them, something like bumping into some weird beast – _or freeze to death_, he thought with a grim inner laugh.

As for James, the headache that came right after his fall from the tree had worsened and he could barely feel an ounce of warmth when he blew into his fingers to warm himself up. The only glove he had being the right, his left hand was red and painful; but then again, it may be better this way, as the danger was total numbness. He had heard adults talk of the dangers of cold, but currently cursed himself for not being able to recall a spell to keep him or the others warm.

"… And the ogre starts sniffing about, while his wife swears blind that there's no such thing in the room as the smell he's describing. The ogre tries to dig through his memory to put a name on that peculiar odour, that is oh, so delicious, rich, perfumed, fresh and peppery as a spring's morning … 'It smells,' he growls, 'it smells … it smells like …' "

_Remus has a neat way of telling stories_, thought James as he looked over at his friend's pale, tired, but smiling face; the chill was drawing red shapes on the thinness of his cheeks, but the blue grey eyes wore their usual light. James found himself waiting for the rest of the story with his guts slightly clenched.

" 'It smells … _It smells like warm young flesh!!_' "

Sirius gave a start in spite of him as James stiffened. Remus glanced at them, and began to laugh softly. "I say, when you listen to a story you have a way of really getting _into_ it."

"And you do have a way of telling it!" retorted James with a smile that failed to quite reach his dark eyes. He felt more and more numb with cold, and he had the unpleasant feeling that tiredness was slowly turning his feet into lead. Remus gave him a curious look as Sirius rubbed his nose that the cold reddened. Without a word, almost without so much as taking a glance at him, the latter had instinctively laid his arm on James's shoulders, as if it could be enough to keep the cold at bay.

"Hey Jamsie," he said detachedly, as they reached the 'broom-shaped tree' which they really couldn't miss, "want my left glove? Looks like you could use it."

Normally James wouldn't have thought for one second – it would have been a flat and instant no. But right now … James was proud, but he wasn't stupid. And he was indeed _really_ cold.

"Ok, Sirius," he said, teeth chattering freely. "Thanks very much."

"Not at all, mate," said Sirius as he handed him the woollen glove. "Normal thing, yes? Eh, Remus – can you go on, please? I like your way of telling stories."

"Well, I have an amount of experience in the matter," muttered Remus with a small grin. "So, the ogre jerks the chest open and discovers the kids huddled together in there. Of course he goes mad and orders his wife to feed them, and to make them have some rest for their flesh to be tender and crunchy the morning after when he roasts them."

"Er, Rem … spare us the details, will you."

"Fine. The thing is, the ogre and his wife have seven daughters. Seven little ogresses, like their dad. And they all wear little crowns on their round heads. And the boys are made to sleep in the same room as them …"

James was only half listening now. He wasn't even hungry anymore. His glasses were covered with snow and he felt a throbbing, increasing pain in the back of his head. His soaked clothes – cloak, robes, and the jeans, jumper and shirt he wore underneath – weren't enough to keep the heat of his body and he shivered in the cool breeze. He was sometimes tripping almost unknowingly, and he'd have fallen already without Sirius's arm around his shoulders.

As he talked in a low voice, Remus remained watchful, stealing a concerned glance at his friends from time to time while struggling as well to keep his own heat inside. Something that he'd had to learn as a little child, that seemed natural to him. But what with the wetness and the still falling snow, he knew perfectly well that he didn't stand a bigger chance than the others if they didn't reach quickly a warm and dry place.

"Now in the dead of night, there goes the ogre, dead drunk, with the idea of cooking himself a little midnight bite. Tom Thumb isn't sleeping, unlike his brothers who've all eaten a lot at dinner. As he can't seem to be able to wake them up, he takes in ultimate panic his brothers' caps and trades them for the crowns of the sleeping little ogresses, hoping that – _James!_"

James had stumbled again – it was one time too many. This time, his weakened body relaxed suddenly, and he collapsed. Sirius only had time to tighten his grip to catch him before he hit the ground.

"Jamsie! Blimey, Jamsie – talk to me, say something!"

But this time, James didn't answer. His face paler than Remus's, his closed eyelids a bluish shade, the boy's breathing was so faint that the other two could barely see the little cloud of haze coming from his mouth. He was totally still.

"James!" cried Remus, tapping his cheeks. "Don't you sleep, you must stay awake! You _have_ to stay awake, James!"

Sirius hauled him up against his shoulder, gripping his arm to keep him upright. "C'mon, Jamsie. That's no time for sleeping, mate. Get up now, you don't even have your stripped pyjs on! Where d'you think where are here, in bed? Wake up! James!"

Sirius's voice pitched upwards. He was scared – a deep, gut-twisting fear. A fear that was much greater than the one he had experienced underground, surrounded by the Voice and Belegaer. A fear that was almost greater than any he'd ever experienced before.

"James!" he screamed in a hoarse, terrified voice. "_Come back!_"

James's eyes moved slightly behind his bluish lids and he let out a faint moan. Remus and Sirius heaved an enormous sigh of relief.

"That's good, James, open your eyes now," encouraged Remus as he chafed vigorously his friend's arms and torso with his own hands numbed with cold. "We're here for you and we don't mean to go anywhere else without you. Focus on my voice. Can you hear me?"

James gave an imperceptible nod, his eyes still shut.

"You have to open your eyes, Jamsie," said Sirius, his voice sounding less panicked but still just as hoarse as it had been. "And to keep them open, too. Go on, I bet three Chocolate Frogs that you can do it. Ready?"

The two eyelids lifted slowly, heavily, unveiling a pair of dark green, almost black eyes that looked exhausted and totally lost.

"We have to speak to him constantly," said Remus to Sirius, who lifted him a little higher with a shaking hand. "He must not fall asleep. Or else …"

Sirius really didn't need Remus to draw him a picture. He nodded.

"Hey Jamsie, what d'you think we'll tell the teachers, eh? D'you think we should tell them all about the agate? And about the Old One, Belegaer, the Voice and all that?"

"We can't be much far from the castle now," said Remus reassuringly. "Here're the 'crossroads' Bombastus was talking about; after that we'll go to the right, then straight ahead to the edge of the forest."

"About time. Jamsie, m'boy, you ought to be put on a diet, I tell you. You're way too heavy for my opinion and – whoa!" Sirius stopped short when he felt James go limp again. "Oh no, no, no! No way, Jamsie. 'Specially now."

"Don't fall asleep, James," Remus implored. "Do stay awake. I swear we're not that far now."

"Hey, Rem … Remus?"

James had raised his head and half opened his eyes.

"Yes?" said Remus, huge relief in his voice.

"Can you … Could you continue, please? What … what happens … next?"

Remus smiled. "Well, as Tom had managed to swap the caps for the crowns, the ogre comes in completely canned, and he – he kills his own daughters instead of the boys."

Sirius winced disgustedly; James shuddered.

"Nice s … story."

"Quite so, James … like most of fairy tales. So shortly after that, Tom Thumb wakes up his brothers for good and they sneak out. Of course, when the ogre realises he's killed his children, he goes into a wild rage –"

"You bet."

"Sirius … And he puts on his Boots of Seven Leagues to find the boys. Those are magical boots that help you make three-miles steps."

"We c…could as well use … use them now, c… couldn't we Rem?"

"You said it, James. Well, he's eventually tired, and so he sits under a tree for a nap and instantly falls asleep. That's where the boys run into him by chance –"

Remus stopped once more. Head raised and eyes wary, his body still shivering, he stared around for a minute. Sirius, still supporting James, remained unmoving, observing the woods behind Remus. The two of them stood there in watchful silence, back against the other's back. James struggled hard to just about keep his eyes open; his head was heavy in the hollow of Sirius's shoulder, and the latter could barely feel his friend's raw breathing against his neck.

"I'm – here for you, g – guys. Not g – going 'nywhere without y – you."

Remus glanced swiftly behind him, his eyes intensely bright. Sirius tapped James's woollen-gloved hand with his wand hand, giving a nervous, but amused, moved laugh.

"Jamsie, you're really something else, y'know."

Suddenly Sirius pricked his ears to the left – a sound of shifting leaves and crackling snow had caught his attention. Still grasping James's wrist with his left hand, he took out his wand with the right, while Remus gripped his own wand in his trembling hand so tight that his knuckles went white.

The noise was creeping closer.

Sirius's breathing was getting quicker and quicker, more and more uneven. He was terrified. _God knows what could go bursting through these bushes_, he thought. _And I'm ready to bet everything that it can't be good …_ Oddly enough, the only thing that saved him from total panic, that almost reassured him, was the soft sound of James's heart which he felt racing against his right shoulder. Faint, irregular beating, quick as a wounded bird's heart's – but meaning that James wasn't giving up just yet. He was still fighting, with all the might he had left. Sirius's grip tightened around his friend's wrist. _Hold on, mate. I'm here for you too, and I'm not letting you go_.

"It's coming toward us," breathed Remus in a hoarse whisper. "It's coming closer."

Any hope to see the shadow leave went up in smoke when the footsteps stopped suddenly, only to start again, straight in their direction.

It was only when it came a few feet away from the threesome that they recognised the huge figure.

* * *

" _'Of course!' said Gandalf. 'And why should not they prove true? Surely you don't disbelieve the prophecies, because you had a hand in bringing them about yourself? You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!'_

_'Thank goodness!' said Bilbo laughing, and handed him the tobacco-jar_."

Lily shut her book and looked around her. There wasn't anybody left in the common room beside herself, Tim, Lisa, and Fergus; everyone else had gone up to bed. And even then – Lisa was fast asleep, curled up in her armchair, and Tim looked quite close to do just the same. Only Fergus was still somewhat awake. 

"I like this ending," he said. "And that's true that everything that's happened to him wasn't just chance, in my opinion. It was too well organised."

"You think so, Fergus?" asked Lily in a low, tired voice, but a small smile on her lips.

"It's obvious. You see, I don't believe in fate or good luck. In this story, the Hobbits are sort of like us; and the teachers are wizards and elves, the ones who pull the strings and decide everything – classes, lessons, exams and all – and we have to get by along with the situation."

Lily smiled and stretched. It was four in the morning, and the windows were pitch-black. She could see absolutely nothing outside but the falling snow. The only lights in the room were the little torches that hung on either side of the fireplace; the fire had died down in the hearth, leaving only glowing embers from which rose up a thin grey smoke.

Total silence reigned in the room now that she had finished telling the story. Fergus kept his eyes on the book Lily was still holding, before getting on his feet and yawning his head off. "Sorry, Lily, but now I'm really, really sleepy. I'm bringing Tim back up in the dorm and getting to bed – I'm ready to drop down here."

"It's okay, Fergus," said Lily as she waved to him. "Sleep well. I'll be trying to get Lisa to our dorm too – and then I'll be right back down here. I promise you I'll try not to make a sound."

Fergus nodded and bent to shake Tim gently. The boy frowned and muttered something inaudible, his eyes still close. Fergus gave a silent chuckle and leaned to support him at least to the stairs. Lily heard their awkward, heavy footsteps up the staircase, then they found their dorm and there was silence again, troubled only by Lisa's deep and regular breathing.

Lily sat there motionless for a little while. Her eyes stung and her back ached by dint of staying in that position. A little voice whispered to her that it would be so nice to imitate Lisa and huddle up in that armchair that looked so comfortable … but she had made up her mind flatly against it. No sleep until the boys were found, she'd sworn that to herself, and she meant to keep her promise! There was no way Lily Evans would go to bed while her friends were in danger. All right, it was still plain obvious that there was absolutely nothing she could do to help it … But that thought didn't stop her from feeling a dreadful concern and bite furiously at her nails. All that while asking herself questions, such as:

_Where are they right now?_

_What happened this afternoon?_

_What if they're hurt, or lost, unable to come back?_

_What if they're outside, in the snow, in the cold?_

_What if?…_

"Ouch!"

Lily had bit the skin by dint of biting on her fingernails.

Lisa reacted to the muffled exclamation by shifting slightly in her armchair and letting out a "Mmhmmh … Whatzat …" in sleepy protest. Which brought Lily's attention back to her schoolmate. With a resigned sigh, she flung Lisa's bag over her shoulder, bent toward her sleeping schoolmate to took her arm and lay it on her shoulder.

"C'mon Lisa. I'm helping you back to the common room – you're not spending the rest of the night here, now, are you?"

The brown-haired girl allowed herself to be lifted back on her feet without a word, then she seemed to shake herself awake enough to mumble, "N … no … wanna stay …"

"But you're sleeping! You'd rather sleep in your bed, wouldn't you?"

"Mmh …"

"Well then, be still."

Supporting Lisa all the way up to their dormitory was far easier said than done, as Lily discovered quickly. She was heavy, and Lily hadn't much muscle. Besides, she was tired, more so than she was willing to admit, and trudging up the stairs was sheer torture. Once in their dorm, she unceremoniously dropped Lisa on her bed with all her clothes on, barely taking time to take her shoes off, before sitting on her own bed to get a little rest, dropping Lisa's bag next to her bed.

Her eyes slid shut before she realised it, and she shook herself once more. _I _must_ not sleep, I must not …_

Feeling that if she stayed there on her bed she'd fall asleep for good, Lily jumped on her feet and tiptoed out of the dorm. Lisa was already sound asleep and snoring slightly, looking quite peaceful and happy.

Halfway down the staircase, Lily was surprised to see a brighter light gleaming on the walls of the common room – somebody seemed to have rekindled the fire in the hearth. She walked down the last steps to head for an armchair near the fireplace, and offered a tired smile to Mundungus Fletcher. "I thought you were sleeping, Mundungus."

"Let me tell you that it's what _you _should be doing at this hour in the night."

Lily shrugged and reported her gaze on the fire. "I can't get any sleep."

It was a downright lie; she was well aware that, as soon as she closed her eyes, sleep would easily overtake her. But Mundungus appeared to believe her. He nodded. "I know the feeling. Happens to me, at times."

Lily shifted her eyes from the fireplace to him. Mundungus had shadows under his eyes, and even if they were discreet, they were easy to spot. All the questions she'd pondered about him rushed back to her mind, along with the little chat she'd had with him earlier that day, before Vega's arrival and the beginning of the worry that was curling her guts right now.

"Mundungus …"

"Yeah?"

"You didn't tell me what was bugging you, this afternoon."

The dark-haired boy frowned slightly at her for a little while, then he nodded. "That's true, I didn't."

He looked just as uneasy as he had in the afternoon. Lily didn't take her eyes away from his.

"Do you promise to keep it secret, Lily? It's very, _very_ important."

"I've already kept secrets, Mundungus."

"Sure you have, but that one …" Mundungus ran a hand in his untidy curls and sighed. "Right. Remember how I used to pull pranks so easily at the beginning of the year? How I managed to never – or almost – get caught?"

Lily nodded.

"Well, I had something to help me. Something very rare, very valuable, which had been mine for rather a long time."

Lily held her breath.

"I had an Invisibility Cloak."

Green eyes went wide and round. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out for a few seconds. "A – an Invisib –"

"Hm, hmm. You can't possibly know how handy it is. The number of things you can do with it – all the uses you can make of it. I used it as often as I could for four years, three of which at Hogwarts … I drove Adams and the teachers mad … and the Prefects, too … Used to wear it folded under my robes, to be able to use it whenever I wanted."

Mundungus' eyes remained fixed on the mantelpiece, which was decorated with tinsel garlands that seemed weird, in contrast with the intimist atmosphere of the room. The logs were cracking softly, sending up sparkles and making a quiet background sound, the only one in the room aside from the boy's voice.

"Only – d'you remember Hallowe'en?"

Lily nodded once more, still silent.

"Well, _I_ don't recall anything – only opening the double doors to the grounds, and then … nothing 'til Sprout found me. But I remember clearly having my Cloak tucked under my robes before leaving the castle. When I came 'round at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey had me put on a pyjama, and though I searched thoroughly through my clothes, I couldn't find anything."

"Your Cloak'd been stolen?"

"That's the only possible answer. I asked the matron if she hadn't found something in my clothes, but she hadn't. Nothing else was gone, my wand was in my belt, I even found my hat afterwards, a few feet away from my spot in the snow … But the Cloak was missing."

Questions raced in Lily's mind already clouded with sleep. For the moment she couldn't find any answer to any question. She shook her head.

"Mundungus … do you think they'll find James, Sirius, and Remus tomorrow morning sitting in the snow, like you back at Hallowe'en?"

"I dunno, Lily … but that I can tell you," he added with a smile at the messy-haired little girl curled up in the armchair next to his, "with three of them they've more possibilities than I had – so more chances of getting off unarmed. And I'll tell you one thing, too …"

His gaze returned to fix itself on the mantelpiece as Lily sank back a little deeper in her armchair.

"They're pretty lucky to have someone willing to give up a whole night of sleep out of concern. And friendship."

Lily blushed under her freckles. He wasn't stupid – he had indeed guessed that her body was craving for a little rest, and that what was keeping her doggedly awake wasn't a simple insomnia.

Then something occurred to her that made her blush even redder and look away. It was the first time ever she'd done something like that – staying awake all night for no logical or practical reason, only the will to be there, just in case … She wouldn't have done it for anybody, even for Mundungus – actually, she hadn't when he had vanished for twenty-four hours. There were only three persons at Hogwarts (maybe four) for whom she felt ready to do anything, to go anywhere, and they were none other than James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. And she was proud of that – even if she didn't dare wonder if the reverse was actually possible.

_Is anyone that friends with Mundungus?_ she wondered. _If he were to go missing again, who would stay up and worry all night long?_ Try as she may, she couldn't find anybody. Not even herself.

Mundungus's dark eyes still stared aimlessly in front of him, and the mischievous grin usually lightening up his face was gone. Lily bit on her lower lip. Then, very hesitantly, she raised her hand to lay it on his, which was lying on the armrest of his armchair; doing so, she mentally called herself ever sort of stupid moron she knew. Mundungus looked at her curiously, and she almost withdrew her hand and apologised; but she left it there, her heart pounding with an almost frightened hesitation. _What if he thinks it stupid, false, or weird? What am I to do now?_

A moment passed, rather long; a strange, a little awkward sort of moment. Then, with his other hand, Mundungus tapped Lily's slightly shaking, small, plump one, and rose with a smile. "Thanks, Pretty Lily Flower. G'night."

Lily barely nodded at him in response, as if glued to her armchair. Mundungus headed up the staircase to his dorm. Lily was left alone staring blankly in front of her; then she shook her head, groaning. _Stupid, mindless, idiotic me … Blimey …_

She waited until she didn't hear anything from the boys' dormitories and pushed herself out of her armchair to walk up the stairs in the same direction. Only she didn't stop before the very last door – she didn't knock and pushed the door open.

Her friends' dormitory was exactly the way she had left it in the afternoon. Sirius's bed was still as messy, Remus's things were just as tidy. The curtains around Peter's bed had been drawn ever since he'd gone home for the holidays. It was on James's bed that Lily sat, or rather collapsed. She was dead on her feet.

She caught the pillow and put her arms around it, resting her chin on it. Some remains of its owner's smell lingered, but that didn't bother Lily. On the contrary, even – this scent calmed her down, offering a much needed peace, and the pillow's fabric felt soft against her cheek. She rocked herself slightly, slowly, for a few minutes. And she closed her eyes.

* * *

"Yer there!?"

Sirius blinked, hardly daring to believe it. Yet this booming, a little gruff but friendly voice was unmistakable. Next to him, Remus opened his mouth wide and goggled.

"_Hagrid!!_"

"Hagrid, is that really you?"

The giant was wearing a huge moleskin overcoat and a balaclava covering – only partly – his shaggy black hair. He had perhaps three inches of snow amassed on his head and shoulders. "Ye gods!" he cried cheerfully. "Crikey, I'm awf'ly glad ter find the three o' yeh in one piece! Yer not 'urt, are ya?" he asked in a concerned voice, striding toward them.

"The two of us're fine," said Sirius, pale with relief. "But James's in a nasty state."

Hagrid bent to the soaked, tangled, dark-haired head and gingerly raised James's chin. Eyes closed, the boy let out a muffled, barely audible moan. He had drifted off again.

"Hm," muttered Hagrid. "Not good, that … no' good at all. 'E's frozen t'th'bone. Wait."

He took off his coat and wrapped James up in it, then lifted him in his arms as if he weighted nothing. Sirius almost shivered, all of a sudden. It was strange, no longer hearing the heartbeat he had so carefully listened to for this last hour, and no longer having James weight against his back and right shoulder.

Hagrid looked at them in concern. "And yeh're frozen too … Follow me, I'm takin' you home – me cabin's less far than the castle."

Spurred by the thought of the hot tea surely awaiting them at Hagrid's, Sirius and Remus hastened their pace to keep up with the gamekeeper. The latter was muttering furious-sounding bits of phrases under his breath which the boys didn't catch all of, but that didn't matter. They were rescued. Everything would be fine. In a short time they would be able to sit down, rest, get themselves all warmed up again, and the thought was enough to keep their feet moving.

"Hagrid, d'you know what time it is?" asked Sirius at one point, almost running to keep up the pace.

"Mus' be five or six," said Hagrid. "I don' have a watch. But it sure isn't a time to be in the forest."

"How did – how did you find us?" said Remus a little breathlessly.

"When I got back from me snares las' night, I found Dumbledore waitin' fer me in my hut. Told me you lot was gone, an' that you surely didn't mean to. 'Round me house, actually. So I sort of – fret, 'see? Said to meself, if they're sumwhere about there, in th'snow, they won't last long … An' that kept me up all night. So I did what Dumbledore had asked me to do – search the bushes, things like that – but a lil' earlier th'n requested. And then I ran into yeh, thank goodness."

His expression softened as he glanced at the two who trailed behind. "Y'must've had a pretty hard night, the three o' you."

Remus looked up at him, eyes bright; then he blinked and said, his voice very slightly choked, "I'm glad you came to look for us 'a little earlier than requested', Hagrid."

Small wrinkles appeared at the corners of the black eyes, speaking of a beaming smile on the part of the gamekeeper. "C'mon," he cheered on, giving himself a shake, "we're almost there."

"About time, too," whispered Sirius with a quick glance at James's white face, which seemed tiny, lost in the folds of Hagrid's coat.

The sky was still as dark once they got out of the Forest, but at least they could see it now. Coming out on the big, flat, empty grounds after so long in the midst of packed tree trunks was an immense relief to Remus and Sirius – especially the latter.

"Damn good to be in the open air again," he muttered to himself as he lowered his hood for a second to wipe his forehead, ignoring Remus's reproachful, yet curious look.

And then, there was the castle. Hogwarts stood in the middle of the grounds, tall, daunting, bristling with white-roofed towers barely distinguishable between the falling snowflakes. Very few lit up windows were visible, making small golden points, reassuring in the surrounding darkness. A smile crept slowly over Remus's lips.

"Here we are," whispered Sirius. "Pretty good, isn't it?"

Hagrid opened the cabin's door after clearing off the snow blocking the entrance and stepped in, followed by Remus and Sirius who looked at each other when they heard Curly's formidable barking.

"Usually I would've let you go in firs'," Hagrid apologised as he turned to them, just as Sirius pulled the door shut. But now we've an emergency." Without paying attention to the big yellow hound running all around him and trying to lick his hands – "Back, Curly, back" – he strode across the room to set James down on the bed, take off the thick coat for a second to strip him off his drenched cloak, and wrap him up again in the moleskin; then he went rummaging about in the cupboard to dig out a kettle and bustle about the fireplace.

"Yeh two," he called over his shoulder at Sirius and Remus who were taking off their own soaked cloaks, "hang yer coats o'er there and get three blankets out o' the chest drawers. Must warm you up while I fix tea."

There was an old black coat rack hanging above Curly's basket; Remus moved the basket to a safer place and hung up his dripping cloak, soon copied by Sirius who had trouble freeing himself from Curly's enormous yellowish paws – the dog had apparently decided to fawn each of them in turn.

After generously watering Remus in drool as well, Curly raised his muzzle in the air, looking puzzled. Sirius saw him sniff around and eventually stop at the foot of the bed; without a hesitation, he leaped onto it, and bumped into James, still pale and motionless in Hagrid's coat.

"Eh, get off, you!" cried Sirius when the dog began to welcome the third boy as he had the two others. "Hagrid, Curly's –"

"I know, I know," said Hagrid, his back turned, still busying around the fire. "Bin tryin' to get him quit that bad habit fer years – he always ends up breaking the bed laths, and now I mus' change 'em every winter … Ah, tea's ready."

He took out four chipped mugs and put them on the table, before filling them to the brim with surprising dexterity. "Drink, it'll do yeh good."

Sirius didn't dare drink at once – the cup was piping hot against his palm. But what a great sensation! He was still wet, but sat in a dry, warm room with a steaming tea in his hands. Something melted inside him when he swallowed the first sip, as the hot liquid slid slowly down to his stomach. He closed his eyes, ignoring the burning in his throat. A soft heat was creeping over him to the very fingertips, and his body was starting to tickle with pins and needles. _Mmh … Wonder what Hagrid puts in his tea._

"Move over, now, big fella." Hagrid sat next to James, sitting the boy up and unceremoniously pushing Curly aside. The disappointed dog went to seek comfort toward Remus sitting on a chair; Remus started to scratch Curly gently behind the ears, holding his mug in his other hand. Curly closed his eyes and rested his great yellow head on the boy's lap, still profusely slobbering over his robes, wagging his tail.

Hagrid seemed to be trying to wake James up and make him swallow something. Having left his own tea on the table, he had put the cup meant for the boy on the windowsill and was currently chafing James's back and arms in a way that might appear gentle to him, but which looked quite energetic all the same.

"Wake up, lad. C'mon, open yer eyes … Hav'ta get a lil' warmth into you, now, don't I? After that yeh can sleep. Promise. Come on now, James, wake up –"

Sirius wandered where, in Hagrid's six-foot-tall and God-knows-how-large frame, could this low, gruff-like but warm and gentle voice come up from … There was also the both firm and gentle way – strange in such a giant – he had of taking care of James, as if he were nursing a wounded deer. Sirius realised that Hagrid, with all his time as a gamekeeper, must have mastered the art of looking after animals, sometimes small or fragile. _Bet the guy could be a great Care of Magical Creatures teacher_, he thought. _Better than what Vega describes Kettleburn to be, anyway_.

But soon he abruptly stopped his musings, for James blinked and his eyelids half lifted. Sirius stared at the wan face: the lips and lids were less blue already than they had been earlier, and a small amount of colour was slowly getting back up into the pale cheeks. Hagrid took the tea cup on the windowsill with a relieved sigh and made the boy swallow a mouthful. Sirius's fascinated gaze remained pinned on his friend: it was as if the ice that seemed to embed him was gradually melting away – it was like watching the mercury rise up a thermometer.

"James?" said Remus in a hesitant, slightly quivering voice. "Can you hear me?"

James blinked once or twice more, casting a vague, blurred look about him; then he stopped on Sirius and Remus sitting at the table, staring intently at him. There wasn't any other movement in the small room; even Curly had seemingly understood the seriousness of the situation and sat in watchful stillness. Or maybe he was just expecting extra ear-scratching.

"Well, maybe I'll –" James paused and frowned, trying to gather his memories from the previous hours. "Maybe I'll sound awfully cliché here, but – where are we and what happened?"

Remus gave a soft chuckle, and explained, "Hagrid found us and took us to his cabin. Pretty lucky that he did, actually, because it seems like we wouldn't have held on much longer …"

He tactfully didn't add, 'Especially you.' Sirius, still looking a little shaken, asked, "How d'you feel, mate?"

"I f – I'm fine, now," James said in a voice that he hoped would be firmer. Hagrid handed him his mug and rose to take a chair, to the delight of Curly, who immediately rushed back to him to lick his big hands.

"Well, you scared the living daylights out of us!" Sirius suddenly barked out, startling Curly. "Don't you _ever_ do that to us again, will you? Merlin's beard, the fright you gav–"

There was a small choked laugh, and both James and Sirius turned their gaze to Remus who downed the last remnants of his tea to put the mug back on the table. Then he looked back at them, his eyes lingering then on James's. "What Sirius wants to say with his usual tact and subtlety, is that you had the two of us very, _very_ worried."

Hagrid's broad grin shone in his small, warm black eyes as he gazed over at the three rescued adventurers.

"Mind, I don't want to sound disappointed in saying that," said James as he sat up on the bed, cautiously securing his mug in his hands, "but I really did think I was dead, at some point."

Sirius muttered something inaudible under his breath. Remus's blue grey eyes twinkled, and James felt a genuine grin make its way onto his face still slightly stinging from the cold.

* * *

"Lily?"

Someone spoke softly to her, and she felt a light hand lying on her shoulder.

"Mhmm …"

"Sorry, I hadn't seen you were sleeping," whispered the voice, but sleep was already fleeing Lily. She half opened her eyes and brushed the tangled locks out of her face; doing so, she discovered a pale figure with long black hair roughly tied in a braid behind her back, who was rising to head for the door.

"Wait, Vega," Lily called sleepily. "I'm awake."

Vega came back to her and crouched near the bed. Lily raised up her head and ran a hand on her warm cheek, where her hair and the folds of the pillow had left marks.

"What are you doing here?"

A tired smile lit up the pale face for a short while. "I could ask you the same, you know – even take points for your being in a dormitory you have nothing to do in. After all, I am a Prefect."

"So you'd have to take points from Gryffindor because of you as well," smiled Lily, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?"

"Six, I guess – or maybe five and a half. Something close enough, anyway."

"Still no news?"

"Still nothing. The whole castle's asleep."

"Well, _I_'m not sleeping. Anyway, not now."

Vega shot her a fraction of her usual sharp look. "When did you finally fall asleep?"

"About – something around five, I think," said Lily, compelled to count on her fingers – her brain felt too foggy to do something as difficult as mental calculation. 

Vega frowned. "You should've _slept_, tonight! What's gotten into you?"

"Don't speak too loudly, please … I just wanted to be here, in case they –" Lily trailed off, and stared at Vega. "And just what did you come in here for?"

Vega gave the shadow of an ironic smile, "A little peace. Olivia snores."

Lily swallowed back a snort of laughter. Then she sat up on the bed and put down James's pillow, which she was still hugging. Her back was aching from sleeping in that position, even so shortly.

There was a brief pause, during which Vega went to open the window to air the room, and sit on Sirius's bed, next to James's; and then Lily's gaze fell on the battered guitar case carefully set up against the wall next to the bed.

"Oy, Vega … Can you play it?" she asked, nodding toward the guitar. Vega shook her head.

"Never could – I never really learned. Never did try to, mind …" She rose, and slowly, gingerly, took the instrument out of its case. Lily knew well this guitar but little of its actual story – only that it had been blonde once, but that its owner had repainted it black. The result was fairly striking, the strings appearing much lighter, in contrast with the dark neck. When James had asked Sirius why he had repainted his guitar, Sirius had simply shrugged it off and never properly answered.

"Vega?"

"Hm?"

"Why is this guitar black?"

Vega glanced up, a slightly faraway look in her eyes. "There's a whole story behind that. And not short at all."

"Try me," said Lily softly. "Please do. I'll be quiet and listen."

"Alright." Vega lowered her gaze to her left hand and placed two awkward, hesitant fingers on the last two of the three bass strings. 

"I was a present from our mother – for Sirius's eighth birthday. Dad thought he was too young for that, and so did I – you know, at that time, Sirius was … well, he wasn't very tidy, nor careful."

She stopped to look about her at the mess around her younger brother's bed with a chuckle. "Hasn't changed that much, actually." 

Lily smiled. That sounded quite like the Sirius she knew.

"Anyway, she was very fond of Muggle music, and guitar was her favourite instrument. She couldn't play herself, but her library was always full of books such as _Learn How To Play Guitar By Yourself_ and all that sort of things … and she passed her passion on to Sirius. Except that _he_ learned how to play. He used to drive me completely crazy, always playing the same chord over and over again … always repeating the same angle of the wrist or the position of his fingers … But I was intrigued. Fairly proud, even. He worked hard on it, seriously, and it was the very first time that he seemed thoroughly interested in something."

Vega ran slowly her neatly-painted-nailed fingers on the strings, producing quiet dissonance.

"And then – and then, two years and a half ago, Ma … our mother died."

Lily's heart pitched down in her stomach as her hands tightened painfully into balled fists. She gulped. "If it's not too indiscreet of me to ask … How did she –?"

The gaze Vega raised in front of her was harsh and sharp, with naked despair and pain behind her blue eyes.

"Death Eaters – she was one of their very first victims. After that … Sirius didn't speak for two whole months. Not one word, absolutely nothing. And his guitar remained locked in his cupboard – he never touched it. His silence drove me and my dad on edge … Eventually, I cracked up – I don't remember what I told Sirius – or rather shouted and screamed at him – but I do recall staying in my room crying uncontrollably for two hours just after that. And then I heard something."

A very slight, very hesitant smile came trying its luck on the thin lips, but the blue eyes were blurred. Lily, her hands trembling in her lap, remained silent.

"I don't remember exactly what that song was … An old, soft, and tender one – one of the Beatles's again, I'd bet … Maybe _A Taste Of Honey_, or perhaps _This Boy_. He played so well … and yet Merlin knows how much this guitar was out of key, he hadn't touched it once in two months. Dad and I – we couldn't believe our ears. I went in Sirius's room, quietly, not to disturb him … but he heard me come. He raised those incredible eyes of his up to me – you know, when he's really moved, it's amazing how his eyes are light – and blurted out to me, just like that, 'See? I can _play_!' He sounded even more astonished than I was. I almost start crying once more, just hearing his voice again.

"The day after, he went out to buy himself new guitar strings, all alone; and then he locked himself in Da's 'painting room' – that's a little shed he built, a few feet apart from our house – and didn't come out once in the day. By the evening, his guitar was black, with brand new, light strings. And he never left it. He learned a totally different way of playing, out of both practice and intuition – took him long, and sometimes he tells me that he'll never quite be done with all the little faults and awkwardness … But sometimes, just you _listen_ to him when he really _plays_ – sounds like his very life depends on these strings."

Vega plucked one string a bit loudly, and Lily started. Vega winced down at the instrument, which gave Lily time to dry discreetly her slightly wet eyes. She almost wished she had never brought the subject of that guitar.

Suddenly, an unexpected sound caught Lily's attention – a bark, loud and cheerful, coming from the grounds below. _Curly? He must be really close for us to hear him so well!_ she thought. Vega had heard him, too; she put the guitar back in its case, and walked to the window, still holding the case by the strap.

"Lily – oh, Lily! Come – come and see that!" she cried, her voice much higher than usual. Puzzled, Lily rose to join her. Her green eyes widened to a size she never would have imagined them to.

In the still thick darkness, she could see four figures plus Curly, who having left Hagrid's hut were now heading toward the castle, forty or fifty feet to the main entrance. One figure was Hagrid himself, no doubt was possible about that; but the sight of the three other shadows, much smaller, that trudged along behind him made her jump and squeak with joy.

"It's them! It's _them_, Vega! Bet it is!"

But she was speaking to the curtains. Vega had already vanished down the stairs, and Lily dashed behind her, her heart throbbing painfully. What if they were amnesiac like Mundungus had been? If they didn't remember anything of what happened, or worse – nothing at all – not even her? At least they seemed to walk normally and didn't look physically hurt or anything, but if …

She caught up with Vega at the entrance of the common room – the violently waken up Fat Lady made a squeaking noise of flabbergasted protest, but Lily was past caring. She had only time to notice that Vega was still clutching the guitar case. As the black-haired girl had some difficulties running with the large battered case in her hand, she flung it over her shoulder, grasped the strap, and resumed her wild running. This, however, allowed Lily to catch up with her, almost overtaking her.

But she let Vega take the lead – the girl knew shortcuts through corridors Lily had never set a foot in, and if the latter hadn't followed close on the young Prefect's heels, she would have found herself lost good and proper. After running for what seemed like hours, the two girls reached at last the hospital wing; the door was open, the light flooding into the corridor in a big, bright, yellow puddle.

* * *

James's legs were none too steady when he stepped through the double doors, but that didn't compare in the slightest to what he had felt back in the Forest just before passing out. This time, it had probably a great deal to do with the emotion – they had come through. They had escaped the Voice, Belegaer, the Old One, the underground maze, and eventually the snow and the cold – they were safe, thanks to the three of them and Hagrid. They were _safe_. It was endlessly trotting over his mind as he walked along the marble-floored corridors and stony walls that he had thought, at some points during the night, he'd never see again.

A glance at his two friends told him they were more or less in the same state as he was. Remus seemed to be dragging his feet, and his eyes, though smiling, were underlined with dark shadows like the day after a full moon; as for Sirius, he kept his head up, but his eyes closed by themselves and he moved like a wooden puppet. James shook his head and put a supportive arm around Sirius's shoulder. His friend's wolfish grin was weary, but warm as ever; as he laid his left arm on Sirius's shoulder, he motioned to Remus to do the same. James grinned. However ridiculous or corny the whole thing felt, _he_ felt good. Proud. Proud of having them as his friends, and even a little proud of himself. He wasn't that cold now. Friendship warms your heart, he quoted with a chuckle. How good it felt, having true friends.

Hagrid went knocking on the door of the matron's office-apartments. Madam Pomfrey appeared a minute later, wearing a white dressing gown and a night-cap, a hand in front of her mouth to stifle a yawn; however, when she caught sight of the boys, the fantastic start she gave threatened to seriously destabilise the night-cap.

"Orion's howling hounds! You are here, thank goodness … How are you feeling?"

Sirius opened his mouth, but she didn't leave anybody a chance to answer; opening the door to the hospital wing, she pushed them inside and pointed three lined up beds. "Sit down!"

James glanced over at Hagrid, whose mere presence seemed to dwarf the doorway; the giant was fidgeting with his balaclava, looking slightly uneasy about the trail of mush the four of them had left behind. Not daring to cross the matron, James sat on the bed between Sirius and Remus, exchanging puzzled looks with his two friends.

The matron returned quickly with stripped pyjamas which she handed to the three boys; as they drew the curtains to have some privacy while they changed, she walked to the door.

"Hagrid, thank you – what you have –"

"That's nuthin'," Hagrid cut off, embarrassed. "I did what the Headmaster 'ad asked me to do, that's all."

Madam Pomfrey nodded, her eyes bright. "I know that, Hagrid, I know that – but …" She turned around to look behind her, but only Sirius had put on his pyjamas and slipped under his blankets. The boy's frowning gaze was directed in front of him, where only a jet-black mop could be seen on the pillow … Severus Snape was fast asleep.

The matron turned back to the gamekeeper who was still turning his balaclava over and over in his big hands. "Hagrid, I know you've already done more than your part, but –"

"I told you it was nothin', Ma'am."

"And I know that as well,, but … Well, if you would be so kind as to fetch Professor Dumbledore, I'd be very grateful. And perhaps also Professor McGonagall, as she is the head of these students' house …"

"Goin' straightaway, Ma'am."

"Thank you very much, Hagrid."

Hagrid walked out the doorway at the very moment James drew back the curtains to have a look around. He was almost disappointed – he would have liked Hagrid staying a while … But the doorway didn't remained empty for long. A sort of small, black and dark red flash dashed suddenly past the door and toppled out of sight as James heard the distinct thud of someone falling over, and a muffled moan of pain. It was closely followed by a taller figure, with long, black, tousled hair framing a face as white as a sheet …

"_Sirius!_"

Vega rushed over to her brother, who looked as though he had a sudden urge to dive under his bed and hide himself. She stopped at the foot of the bed, trying to assume a calmer expression, and put her hands on the bar between the bed posts. These hands were shaking, the knuckles very white.

"Sirius …" she said softly, almost hesitantly. "How're you feeling? Are you alright?"

The boy kept his eyes down to answer, "Don't fret, Vega, I'm fine."

"Don't _fret?!_" Vega's voice sounded furious now. "You're my brother, you stupid idiot! In case you didn't know – it's normal that I should worry about you!"

She walked round the bed and stopped right beside him, no longer trying to hide the distraught expression on her face. "I was so worried … about you, about your friends, but especially about _you_ … I kept thinking, what if he never came back? What would I say to Da? What would _I_ do then?"

Her voice shook and she took hold of one of his hands in hers, without him doing anything to free himself.

"What would I do without my brother?"

Obviously aware of James and Remus watching his closely while pretending not to, Sirius bit on his lip, his eyes still not meeting Vega's; then he squeezed briefly – ever so briefly – his sister's hand and looked up at her, smiling his own sarcastic, warm, slightly insolent grin.

"Why – bloody stupid things, of course."

A strange expression flicked on Vega' taut face, and Sirius looked hesitant for a few seconds, but it turned rapidly into a slightly nervous smile, and Vega stepped back, letting go of her brother's hand.

"James! Remus! Sirius!"

The earlier dark red flash came back as Lily, who winced whenever she put her left foot on the ground. A plaster adorned her round knee; Madam Pomfrey was shaking her head and rolling her eyes, "And they _never_ listen when you tell them not to run in the corridors …"

Lily wasn't listening. She rushed to the beds where her three friends huddled together beneath the blankets.

"Oh my, oh dear, oh God! I haven't slept a wink, I was so concerned … What happened to you? James, you look dreadful …"

"Thanks, Lily, I'm glad to see you too," said James with a grin. He couldn't tell why, but it was nice to see Lily, her ruffled dark red hair, the freckles on her round face and nose, her bright green eyes … she was funny. 

And she did look quite worried, too! Curious, that.

"Did you hurt yourself, Lily?" asked Remus, pointing at the plaster on her knee. Lily swiftly looked down then up.

"Oh, that! Nothing, I slipped in the corridor. How're you?"

Remus smiled in turn. Lily was obviously all jangle-nerved, but even so she seemed to give off such a warmth after the long, cold night that it was hard not to smile.

"We're fine, Lily, and glad to be home. It's been a long night, you know. You have no idea."

Lily sort of grimaced tensely. "Tell you what – I _can_ imagine."

_Weird answer_, thought James. But he was too tired to think.

"Sirius? Are _you_ alright? How's the night been?"

Sirius nodded and grinned. "My pyjs are kind of scratchy, but otherwise I'm fine, thanks. That's what matters, yes?"

"Oh, you," muttered Vega with half a smile. "You always have to complain on something, don't you?"

"Oy!" Sirius stared at Vega as if he'd just noticed something which had escaped him so far. "Isn't that my guitar you're carrying?"

Vega looked put off for a second, then her eyes fell down on the strap in her hands and she went pink. "Erm … yes, it is."

"Give it to me, will you?"

Vega handed the instrument to her brother, quickly as though it burned her fingers. Lily seemed to lose a little of her colour as he opened the case to take out his guitar.

"So then, Lil'," said Sirius as he settled it in his lap and against his chest, tuning the strings, "want to know how this night's been? Well, I'll tell you how it's 'been'."

James shook his head, smiling – Sirius was always ready to overdo everything. Remus, Lily, and Vega looked intrigued.

A funny, discordant chord tore out of the black resonance chamber and lasted two or three seconds; that was long enough for James, who had recognised the song, to lean back on his pillow and groan, "Oh, no! Not this one, please!" Sure enough, it was followed by Sirius's voice, singing – too loud, of course, "_It's been – a hard day's night!_"

"Oh, no you don't!" cried Madam Pomfrey as she snatched the guitar away from him. "You need rest, the three of you do, and I won't allow such a din in my hospital wing!"

Sirius squirmed back down in his bed, laughing, and reached out for James to highfive. Vega took the guitar to put it back into its case as Lily giggled – rather nervously, though – and Remus shook his head to hide a broad grin from the frowning Madam Pomfrey.

James put his head on the delightfully soft pillow, grinning from ear to ear. Vega sounded like she was reproaching Sirius for something, Sirius was as usual defending his pride, Lily was chatting with Remus – although she was still so tense that he could hardly get a word in. Above those four voices, the matron's came more and more often, but James didn't understand what she was saying – but that hardly did matter.

The long night was over.

James was asleep before he even realised it.

*~*~*~*

All right, people! Now you won't hear from me for another 6 months, I'm afraid… Just kidding, in fact like I previously stated, I've got exams to retake, and so… Well, let's just say you'll have to wait.

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Harriet: yeah, I've worked out this age problem – you see, I'm not familiar with British school policy, and I thought one would just have to be in their eleventh year to be accepted at Hogwarts. I'm awfully sorry about that, it was a big mistake, and one I can't take off – I see too much Sirius as being both the "youngest" and sort of the wildest of the four, don't ask me why… Maybe the Who's influence – Keith Moon is one of my favourite drummers of all the times, and he was both the youngest in the group **and** certainly the wildest. Anyway, thank you very much for your review – I absolutely love this thoughtful, intelligent kind of reviews.

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Biohazard: hope you've liked this one! :o)

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Digintegrated: thanks for the birthday card, Guillaume, it was very kind of you – I appreciate that.

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Saphire: whoa, that's courageous of you!! But I'm afraid that I took so long to write this chapter that you'll have to reread the last parts… honestly, I'm sorry about that – if I could write quicker, I would.

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Riddles in the Dark: fan of Tolkien's too, aren't you? ;o) Hope you enjoyed the _Hobbit _references – I love this book. Each of your words widened the grin on my face as I read them – reviews like yours, even if they're short, are absolute delights. Thank you.

And, at last, **_Green Eyed Lady_**, aka **_Storm Witch RD_**, aka **_Jobey_**, am I right? :o) Rheanna, you're a treasure. And don't worry about lunacy – I've met some who were much, much bigger lunatics than you, dear! Anyway, yes, it was for the plot secrets' sake that Remus's interrogation wasn't heard. I can hear you asking yourself, "How can the boy still keep secrets from us?" Dun dum dun! Eh, you'll see. About Lily being cosy… hmm, dunno if I'd like to spend a sleepless night this way. She'll be crabby in the morning. But this sleepless night sure isn't gonna be useless! Vega's story and Mundungus's secret – and yes, he was abducted by the same "Little Lot of Evil Child Kidnappers" that caught three of the foursome and left ickle Snapey with a nice lump on his greasy head. As the reviewers didn't point it out, I have no idea if they guessed that as well… And about the escape and all – in fact it was only the turning point, that's why it seemed anti-climaxical. They still had quite a big part of the night to go through… before they saw the end of it! :D Thank you for your long review, as usual you made my day. Thanks a bunch.

To all the silent readers out there… hope you liked it, there's more to come!

Much of love to everybody, peace, love, and cucumber salad,

Belphegor~the Weird One!~ :o]

*~*~*


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